Conclave & Woman of the Hour

Conclave, directed by Edward Berger from the novel by Robert Harris, is a series of mostly quiet conversations that in 2024 read as an interrogation of the junction that so many feel the world finds itself approaching these days. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes, in a terrific internal performance), Dean of the College of Cardinals, is put in charge of a conclave after the death of the current Pope. Cardinals from around the world converge on Rome to elect a new Pope, and we meet several who have their own agendas. Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) and Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) both want the job and favor a conservative direction for the Church, with hard line stances on issues involving homosexuality, women in the priesthood, and more. There are more liberal Cardinals - including Lawrence - who favor the American Bellini (Stanley Tucci), with Tremblay (John Lithgow) lobbying to be seen as the best consensus choice.

Candidates for the Papacy do not it seems make speeches to their colleagues. Lobbying and negotiation are conducted in hushed conversations, with Lawrence trying to manage the College towards a speedy choice that will suggest to the public that the Church is stable. (At one moment, Lawrence says to himself “You’re a manager. Manage.”) But doubts about the process begin to creep in to Lawrence’s mind, just as he admits to some others that he is also experiencing doubts about his faith. There are whispers about a secret report involving one candidate, and another’s strange reaction to a nun arouses Lawrence’s suspicions. Then there is Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), who arrives late to the conclave and, to everyone’s surprise, was appointed by the late Pope to be Cardinal of Kabul in a secret process.

What is Conclave all about? Berger and screenwriter Peter Straughan have found an ideal leading man in Ralph Fiennes, who finds varying degrees in his doubting and growing cynicism that never make Lawrence feel one note. Berger shoots the Cardinals from above as they talk in a courtyard, and the groups of men in red resemble cells in an organism that isn’t sure in what direction it wants to grow. The nuns, led by the tart Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), orbit around the Cardinals and keep the conclave going without notice or thanks. I’m not sure how Harris’s novel ends, but Berger has chosen a note of slight optimism even as the sequestered Cardinals are affected by outside events. Edward Berger knows how to build tension when very little is happening on screen, and his skill with a strong cast makes Conclave more than worth the effort.

Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the Hour, on Netflix, is the story of a woman named Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick). In 1978, struggling actress Bradshaw appeared on an episode of The Dating Game and was matched with a man named Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zotto). Kendrick is appealing as Bradshaw, and there’s a well-staged scene in a dark parking lot that is the movie’s most tense moment. But Bradshaw disappears before the last act of Woman of the Hour, and we feel like we’ve barely gotten to know her because the script by Ian McDonald alternates Bradshaw’s story with scenes of Alcala’s prior and subsequent activities as a serial killer. (Alcala’s story is even darker than the movie depicts.) The best performance in Woman of the Hour is given by Autumn Best as Mary, a young woman whose self-possession in her confrontation with Alcala can be credited with saving many lives. Anna Kendrick has promise as a director, but I wish the structure of Woman in the Hour hadn’t worked against the story she was trying to tell.