Life imitates art - the Cardinals are watching Conclave to elect the new Pope

On April 21, 2025, a shocker came when Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke, leading to a cardiac arrest. The world mourned; leaders from across the globe shared their feelings for what they had lost. Now the world awaits the cardinals' decision to elect a successor for him. And as we write, the process is ongoing, and news outlets like The Guardian, NBC News, The Independent, and more are delivering us the live updates from the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.

But POLITICO gave us an interesting update yesterday before the voting could commence. According to the European news outlet, the cardinals turned to Hollywood before they elected the new Pope. Some of them watched Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, and Stanley Tucci's starrer Conclave (2024).

At the 2025 Oscars, the film directed by Edward Berger was nominated for eight Oscars and won the Best Adapted Screenplay on the stage. The film was released on October 25, 2024, in the UK and on November 29, 2024, in the US.

Pope Francis' demise caused Conclave's viewership to grow by leaps and bounds

Conclave won one out of its eight Oscar nominations. (Image via Indian Paintbrush)

As soon as the news about the Pope's demise spread across the world, Variety reported, based on numbers provided by Luminate, a service tracking streaming viewership, that Conclave had 7 million minutes watched following the event. Another film called The Two Popes had seen a similar increase in its viewership, with numbers rising from 290k minutes to 1.5 million minutes between Sunday and Monday.

Coincidentally, Conclave plays out the same as what happened in reality. The film begins with the Pope's demise, who has succumbed to a cardiac arrest, and a new Pope needs to be appointed. Four front-running cardinals appear, and the story begins.

During the story, an unexpected arrival of a Mexican archbishop shocks everyone, whom the Pope himself selected in secret. In pectore is the term used for this, which indicates something meant to be kept secret by the Catholic Church.

There's some violence in the film, too, but that's the turning point where one of the candidates in the Conclave handles the matter peacefully. That happens, and he is elected as the new Pope in the film.

How was the film received?

The film made $119 million at the box office. (Image via Indian Paintbrush)

Critically speaking, the film was generally praised by the critics and fans alike. Going by Rotten Tomatoes, it stands with 93% critics' approval based on 320 reviews there. The Popcornmeter had 86% approval based on over 2,500 fan reviews.

In her review of Christianity Today, Kate Lucky writes,

"Though the film subtly advances progressive convictions, it gives cardinals of all ideological persuasions equal opportunity to fall short."

Catholic magazine Angelus was light on actors but harsh on the film overall. Stefano Rebeggiani, who gave the review of the film, says,

"The problem here is not that it is full of bias against the Catholic Church. The problem is that it is just plain bad. ... At the crucial moment, [Benitez] gives a speech so full of platitudes it could have been written by ChatGPT."

The New York Times published a list under the title 'The Movies We've Loved Since 2000 in March 2025,' and Conclave was among the names mentioned.