I was raised Catholic.
Growing up, I went to church with my family every Sunday, and I attended Catholic school from kindergarten all the way through high school. While there are many things that I am incredibly grateful for regarding this lens of education, as I got older, I realized how misogynistic and deeply rooted in tradition the Catholic faith is.
While I’ve been at college, my faith has been challenged, mainly due to a lack of religious structure that my previous schools had. Because of this and the natural bustle of college life, I had not given too much thought to my faith until I watched Conclave over spring break.
Conclave is a drama and mystery revolving around the death of the pope and the rigorous selection of his successor. Among these men are some who value tradition more, some who want modern change, and some who are hiding secrets that jeopardize their chances at success. It’s your typical high school lunch drama with a bunch of old Catholic guys.
Addressing the performances right off the bat, everyone is amazing. Ralph Fiennes deserved his Oscar nomination for Cardinal Lawrence; he doesn’t do too much, but he fits the tone and brings a level of reverence to the role. Backing him up are incredible supporting performances by Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Lucian Msamati as fellow cardinals with a lot of depth and intrigue to them.
As good as the acting is, though, I don’t think Isabella Rossellini was in the movie enough to garner a Best Supporting Actress nomination. Don’t get me wrong, I thought she was perfectly fine. I just would’ve preferred other performers in this film, or other female actresses in other films, to get recognition over her.
The technical aspects of this film are also incredible. The cinematography is stunning, the music is fittingly dramatic, and the dialogue is chilling. At the Academy Awards this year, while nominated in eight categories, Conclave won for Best Adapted Screenplay, which it definitely deserved.
What really made this movie stick with me, however, was its ending. Without giving away too much, it is very powerful. I found Carlos Diehz’s performance to be very moving, both bringing up how to go about viewing the Catholic faith with a modern-day lens and respectfully calling out its hypocrisy.
While I didn’t have any major revelations regarding my faith or the Catholic Church following this movie, I found it to be a good return to my roots and a reminder about how personal and group perspectives change with time.
Please check this one out, it’s one of the best movies to come out last year!
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