White smoke on the silver screen: How Hollywood sees the papacy
Summary
From hushed chambers to movie screens, the mysterious ritual of the papal conclave continues to captivate audiences worldwide
The world was looking at the Sistine Chapel as the Vatican’s first papal conclave in over a decade began on 7 May, following the death of Pope Francis on 21 April. The conclave ended on 8 May with Leo XIV stepping on to the Vatican balcony as the 267th Pope.
In the lead-up to the conclave that elects the head of the Catholic church, global streaming platforms saw a dramatic resurgence of interest in papacy themed movies and series that offer an imagined and fictionalised glimpse of this private ecclesiastical ritual.
According to viewership tracking agency Luminate, Edward Berger’s film Conclave, which was nominated for eight Oscars this year and won Best Adapted Screenplay, saw an astonishing 283% spike in global viewership in the 24 hours following Pope Francis’s passing. Adapted from a Robert Harris novel, the film, which became available to subscribers of Amazon Prime Video on 7 May, stars Ralph Fiennes as a conflicted cardinal thrust into the heart of the conclave. It shows the psychological and spiritual tensions that simmer during the abstruse proceedings unfolding behind the bolted wooden doors of the Vatican. Conclave places the viewer directly within the ornate, locked halls of the Sistine Chapel as scarlet-robed cardinals lobby, vote and pray their way toward a successor.
In reality, over 100 cardinal electors were sequestered in the Vatican chapel to vote in secret, in this ancient and opaque ritual that culminated in the selection of a new pope. The process can take anything from days to months, but this year it took just one day before white smoke emanated from the chimney of the Vatican to indicate that a new pontiff had been elected. The practice, rich in symbolism and mystery, has captivated filmmakers for decades. In the Michael Anderson-directed The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Anthony Quinn plays a Ukrainian archbishop who is unexpectedly elected pope during a global political crisis.
Another film to see a spike in viewer interest was Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes (2019, streaming on Netflix), witnessing a 417% increase in viewership. The film humanises papal figures using humour, empathy and theological depth through the unlikely friendship and ideological tensions between a conservative Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and the reformist Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), who would go on to become Pope Francis.
Traditionally, representations of the church and the Vatican have been more reverential and devotional in nature. But the tone has shifted in recent years. The early portrayals echoed the public reverence of the office but kept its internal contradictions at bay. Modern films, on the other hand, aren’t afraid to pull back the curtain and speak to issues that concern contemporary society, including Catholics the world over.
In Conclave, Cardinal Lawrence, in a pivotal moment, cautions against rigid dogma: “There is one sin which I have come to fear above all others… certainty. If there was only certainty, and no doubt, there would be no mystery. And therefore, no need for faith." It is a line that not only encapsulates a new cinematic attitude but also speaks to a contemporary crisis and changing times which allow for doubt, fragility and internal conflict.
The Two Popes also captures this beautifully when Hopkins’s Benedict admits, “I cannot feel the presence of God. I do not hear His voice…" His spiritual crisis is mirrored by Bergoglio, who insists, “We need bridges, not walls." Here we see two men struggling with the immense weight of moral leadership.
Not all portrayals are so reverent. In Nanni Moretti’s Italian film We Have a Pope (2011), a reluctant cardinal suffers a panic attack after he is elected pope. He is recommended therapy sessions, conducted by a secular psychologist who employs unconventional methods such as volleyball games with other cardinals. The film paints the papacy as not only a spiritual responsibility but also a psychological burden.
Paolo Sorrentino’s HBO series The Young Pope (2016) and The New Pope (2020), push the envelope further. In the dark and ironic The Young Pope, Jude Law’s fictional Pope Pius XIII is enigmatic, authoritarian and glamorous, and the church is framed as a theatre of contradictions. “The Vatican has survived thanks to hyperbole. So we shall generate hyperbole—but this time in reverse," says the young, conservative American pope. In The New Pope, John Malkovich takes charge as the more progressive and reformist Pope John Paul III. “We are not loved for who we are. We are loved for the mask we wear," he says—a line that captures the show’s themes of identity, performance, vulnerability and duty.
Not all filmmakers have genuflected to gravitas. Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons (2009), based on Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, might have been criticised for its lack of accuracy, yet it captures the audience’s fascination with Vatican secrecy and power as it portrays a conclave under threat from a secret society. In Peter Richardson’s The Pope Must Die (1991), a bumbling priest (Robbie Coltrane) is mistakenly elected pope and attempts to clean up corruption in the church.
At the movies, the papal conclave serves as fertile ground for storytelling, offering viewers a pew at one of the world’s most exclusive ceremonies. As the real-world cardinals made their choice under Michelangelo’s frescoes, one can’t help but imagine what story the cameras might tell in the future.
Udita Jhunjhunwala is a writer, film critic and festival programmer. She posts @UditaJ.
