A pope has just died. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), the Dean of the College of Cardinals, is tasked with overseeing the time-honored ritual for electing a new one. He must contend with a fiery reactionary Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), a mild-mannered but strategic liberal (Stanley Tucci), the calculating Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow) and Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), a nun exhausted from a lifetime in service to an all-male power structure. 

Director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) steers this extraordinary cast through the labyrinthine shadows of the Vatican, where all of its pomp and ceremony can't hide the brute realities of human conflict. Peter Straughan adapts Robert Harris' novel, capturing its seismic clashes of ego, ambition, loyalty and belief. The result is a surprising, elegantly satisfying thriller, a thoughtful meditation on the mystery of faith and a reminder: election season is not for the weak. Courtesy of Focus Features

D: Edward Berger, UK, 2024, 2h