“Conclave” feels totally tense and serious with its utterly pulpy story material, and that is the main reason of its entertaining success. Closely confining itself within its isolated main background along with the story and characters, the movie vividly and palpably illustrates how serious and cautious its main characters are about their impending matter to be resolved as soon as possible, and we are totally engaged in their increasingly tricky situation.

The story begins with the sudden death of the incumbent pope in the Vatican. Once his death becomes official, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), a liberal British cardinal who is incidentally the Dean of the College of Cardinals, promptly prepares for the Conclave, which is the secret election meeting for selecting the next pope to succeed the previous one. Numerous cardinals around the world quickly come to the Vatican for this time-honored private meeting, and then they will vote together in private again and again during an indefinite period until someone gets enough number of votes as required.

Because of the importance in selecting the head of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Lawrence and his staff members surely pay a lot of attention to isolating the Conclave from any interfering influence from the world outside as much as possible, and the movie has some moments of fascination as observing how thoroughly they work on the security matters of the Conclave. They make sure that the selected place for the Conclave is completely insulated from the outside, and we see how those arriving cardinals go through some security check before entering where they are going to stay during next several days at least.

As every voting member of the Conclave including Cardinal Lawrence gather together, it is clear that there are several front runners in the group, and we get to know each of them bit by bit. On one hand, there is Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), an American cardinal whom Cardinal Lawrence is willing to support due to their shared liberal viewpoint. On the other hand, there is Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), an ultra-conservative cardinal who is not only quite ambitious but also very determined to push the Catholic Church more toward conservatism in contrast to the previous pope. In the middle of these two very different cardinals, there is Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), a cardinal who actually has a fairly good chance of becoming the first black pope in the history but does not agree much with Cardinal Lawrence due to his rather staunch conservative position.

Because Cardinal Bellini is getting less favorable among the voters as they vote one time after another, Cardinal Lawrence begins to consider supporting Cardinal Tremblay instead, a Canadian cardinal who may not be better than Cardinal Bellini but looks relatively more suitable than the two other front runners. However, it soon becomes quite possible that Cardinal Tremblay was not totally honest with Cardinal Lawrence from the very beginning, and that throws Cardinal Lawrence into more conflict. As several others around him suggest, maybe he should come forward as another main candidate, but that is the last thing he wants, because he has actually wanted to resign from his current position for getting closer to more believers out there.

Once its ground is set and ready, the screenplay by Peter Straughan, which is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Harris (He also served as one of the producers, by the way), deftly doles out one unexpected plot turn after another, and director Edward Berger, who has become more prominent thanks to his Oscar-winning German film “All Quiet on the Western Front” (2022), and his crew members including cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine and editor Nick Emerson did a stellar job of building up suspense on the screen. As they come to vote again and again within their isolated space, the dry but gradually anxious mood surrounding Cardinal Lawrence and several other main characters is more accentuated to us, and the tactfully edgy score by Voker Bertelmann frequently reminds us of how much they feel pressured with a lot of uncertainty in front of them.

Around the point where it delivers its last surprise, the story feels a bit too preposterous in my inconsequential opinion, but everything remains held well together under Berger’s skillful direction while also firmly anchored by the quiet intensity from another strong performance from Ralph Fiennes, who may get an Oscar nomination for this film in the next year. Looking mostly reserved as demanded on the surface, Fiennes subtly conveys to us his character’s deep faith and integrity besides the growing inner turmoil behind his unflappable façade, and we come to care more about whether his character can eventually lead the conclave to the right choice for their church.

Fiennes is also supported well by a bunch of good performers, who are all quite good at suggesting whatever their characters are actually hiding behind their back. While John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci are dependable as usual, Sergio Castellitto, Lucian Msamati, Brían F. O’Byrne, Jacek Koman, and Carlos Diehz are well-cast in their respective crucial supporting parts, and Isabella Rossellini distinguishes herself during one particular scene as the sole substantial female character in the story.

Overall, “Conclave” is an efficient genre piece which will satisfy the audiences with its many top-notch qualities from the beginning to the end. To be frank with you, I and a friend of mine were not surprised much by the finale as we correctly guessed it to some degree in advance, but we were quite captivated and entertained nonetheless, and I see no particular reason to prevent me from highly recommending it. It may not be one of the best films of this year, but it is surely one of the most entertaining movies of this year.