Review: Ralph Fiennes delivers a master class in acting in 'Conclave'

Who'd ever guess that a juicy, jolting mystery thriller could come from the election of a new pope? The whispered conversations of aging cardinals in ornate robes don't usually spell breathless excitement. But "Conclave," now working its whipsmart and sinfully funny way through theaters, is a suspenseful provocation you don't want to miss.

Given our own rush to the polls right this very minute, "Conclave" couldn't be more timely or urgent in its intent to blow the doors off voter fraud. Adapted from the 2016 bestseller by Robert Harris, "Conclave" is not above digging at the church's political divisions or mocking its pomp. And the humor, ping-ponging from satirical to silly, is very much welcome.

When one pope dies, the next one steps up, right? Hardly. The process, enlivened by a knockout script from Peter Straughan, is as cutthroat as our own elections. It's no accident that the outstanding German filmmaker Edward Berger also directed "All Quiet on the Western Front." It's war here, too, as the cardinals jockey for influence over the globe's 1.4 billion Catholics.

Ralph Fiennes delivers a master class in acting as Cardinal Lawrence, appointed by the just deceased pope to serve as the dean of the college of cardinals, where these princes of the church gather in secret behind the locked doors of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where the holy men (no women) are cloistered (eyepopping sets were built at Rome's Cinecittà studios). 

What's at stake? Either you vote for the reactionary Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto in full bluster), or you side with those who won't go back, like Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci, superb), who'd like to see a greater role for women and gays. Cue the conservative pearl clutching.

There are moderates on both sides, such as the Canadian Tremblay (John Lithgow doing sneaky to a turn) or the concealing Nigerian Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), but then you'd have to dig out of sex scandals, unwed pregnancies and voting fraud. And what of the Mexican-born Benitez (a standout Carlos Diehz) from Kabul, appointed by the late pope in secret to protect his safety?

Director Berger keeps "Conclave" alive with tension, nail-biting suspense and great acting.

There are few things harder to act than virtue, yet Fiennes does so with magisterial vulnerability, arguing for doubt in a pontiff "who sins and asks for forgiveness" and can live with his own doubt.

That attitude gets him surprise votes, even as he advocates for Bellini, who resents what he believes is Lawrence's fake humility. Tucci is electrifying as a man of faith compromised by personal ambition and hubris.

Joining Fiennes in the art of underplaying is the magnificent Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes, the only female in this all-male conclave. Except for an incendiary rebuke to the cardinals about women "having eyes and ears," Rossellini has little dialogue, which pundits argue may hurt her chances for the best supporting actress Oscar.

Nonsense. As the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini, this actress has cinema in her DNA , easily seen in films as diverse as "Blue Velvet" and "La Chimera." Her presence in "Conclave" is deeply felt even when she is off-screen. That's star power. Rossellini doesn't need dialogue to strip her emotions raw in "Conclave." That's why she's the film's feminist conscience and its grieving heart. You can't take your eyes off her. And you shouldn't.

Some of the cool kids dismiss "Conclave" as a throwback in a world that needs the shake-up of innovation. Maybe so. But I see "Conclave" as a flame-throwing invitation to think and feel about what's onscreen. You won't find that in a Marvel epic.

Stéphane Fontaine's stunning camera images tell their own story, from the cardinals carrying umbrellas in a rain that won't shield them from heaven's gaze to the shock of a terrorist bomb shattering stained glass. OK, the double twist ending is one more than we needed, but make no mistake, "Conclave" will pin you to your seat. It's one of the very best movies of the year.