Conclave, a Vatican-set political thriller from the director of All Quiet on the Western Front Edward Berger and starring a veteran ensemble led by Ralph Fiennes, is full of twists and big reveals. It’s an entertaining thriller (read my Conclave review for my complete thoughts), but if you have any questions surrounding what happens in Conclave, here is a complete breakdown of the Conclave ending and its biggest moments along the way.
We’re obviously going to be getting into some major Conclave SPOILERS, so this is your warning if you have not watched Conclave yet. Do so before reading more of this post. Alright, let’s dive in.
Conclave begins with the death of the pope, which means the Vatican must hold a conclave, where the church’s cardinals come together to vote on the next pontiff. Organizing the proceedings is Cardinal Lawrence (Fiennes), dean of the College of Cardinals who recently experienced a crisis of faith that resulted in him offering his resignation to the pope, but it was refused.
The favorites to become the new pope are Lawrence’s close friend Bellini (Stanley Tucci), a liberal Cardinal hoping to continue the work of the most recent pope, Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), a conservative looking to reinstitute older and more restrictive practices, Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) and Tremblay (John Lithgow), whose politics are a little less clear (though Adeyemi’s anti-gay stance is mentioned) but are actively seeking the role.
As preparations are made for the cardinals to be sequestered in Vatican City, with an order of nuns led by Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini) there to assist, Lawrence is told of a surprise arrival. Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), though unknown to Lawrence and granted his role by the last pope in secret, is allowed to stay and participate. He is introduced to the others as the cardinal serving Kabul, Afghanistan, a very dangerous place for Christians, and gives a lovely and thoughtful prayer as they have dinner.
In order for a cardinal to be elected pope they must get a two-thirds majority of the 108 votes. Taking place in the Sistine Chapel, the cardinals cast their vote. Adeyemi grabs an early lead, followed by Tedesco, Tremblay and Bellini, who is surprised by his initially poor showing. Also a surprise are votes cast for Lawrence and Benitez, perhaps following their respective speeches (Lawrence began the conclave with a memorable speech that caught some off guard).
Following the first vote, the real work begins, as the vying cardinals must attempt to pull votes to their side to eventually reach the required 72. However, this is when secrets also begin to get exposed and unravel candidates’ hopes of becoming pope.
Adeyemi’s past
Adeyemi’s early lead grows in the next two ballots. While he does not have the two-third majority yet, it seems inevitable. However, the night after the first vote Lawrence heard muffled voices, but ones clearly in an argument, coming from Adeyemi’s room. At lunch the next day a tray is dropped by one the nuns and Adeyemi has an aggressive reaction before storming off in anger.
Despite Sister Agnes’ attempts, Lawrence insists on speaking to the nun, Sister Shanumi (Balkissa Maiga), about what happened. She is afraid to speak to Lawrence about what the incident was all about until he makes it a confession.
Lawrence then confronts Adeyemi. The cardinal expects to simply move on from the whole thing, but Lawrence tells him he now knows Adeyemi had an affair with Shanumi 30 years ago, which resulted in her giving birth to a son, who is being raised by another Christian family. Though Lawrence promises him he is bound by the confessional not to reveal what Shanumi said, rumors from Adeyemi’s outburst at lunch will spread and kill his chances of becoming pope.
Tremblay’s maneuvers
Like Bellini and Lawrence, Tremblay was in Rome when the pope died; he was actually the last person to have a meeting with the pope. The context of this meeting however is not known until Archbishop Wozniak (Jack Koman) tells Lawrence the day before the conclave the pope had actually dismissed Tremblay from his position; though Wozniak was not in the room when it happened.
Someone else was though, and Lawrence sends his aide O’Malley (Brian F. O’Byrne) to see what he can find out. O’Malley returns to say the other man denied Tremblay was dismissed, but O’Malley didn’t believe him.
As Lawrence attempts to figure out why Sister Shanumi was brought to the conclave from Sister Agnes, she pulls up documents on the computer revealing it was Tremblay who ordered Shamuni to come. Lawrence believes this proves Tremblay was conspiring against his fellow cardinals to increase his chances of being the next pope, but Tremblay denies the accusations.
In the next round of voting, Tremblay emerges as the leading vote getter, followed by Tedesco, while Bellini, Lawrence and Benitez continue to trail far behind. Bellini decides it’s time for him to have his supporters back Tremblay, primarily to prevent Tedesco from becoming pope. But it doesn’t sit right with Lawrence.
To see if he can find anything else, he enters the pope’s room (breaking the seal on the door since his death) and finds hidden in the headboard of the bed documents proving Tremblay gave bribes to other cardinals for their votes. When Lawrence shows this to Bellini the latter tells Lawrence to get rid of it, emphasizing that defeating Tedesco is the most important thing. But again, Lawrence cannot.
He prints out copies of the documents and shares them with the other cardinals at breakfast. Tremblay denies the accusations until Sister Agnes speaks up, confirming Tremblay’s involvement in bringing Sister Shanumi to the conclave, further proving his dirty antics.
Benitez’s secret
Despite Tremblay’s exit, Bellini no longer wants to be pope, instead encouraging Lawrene to pursue it. Despite his previous crisis of faith, Lawrence agrees. At the next vote, for the first time he votes for himself. However, as he casts his vote an explosion goes off outside, destroying a window of the Sistine Chapel.
Lawrence reveals to the other cardinals a car bomb and suicide bomber detonated in the square outside. Tedesco takes the opportunity to claim Christianity is at war and they need a pope that will fight, which he intends to do. Benitez then speaks, softly as opposed to Tedesco’s rage, asking what Tedesco knows of war? Benitez has seen the horrors of war, hate and discrimination, and believes they are not the way for the Church to move forward.
Everyone is moved by Benitez’s words and on the next vote he is officially elected as pope. But he has a secret of his own.
As O’Malley attempted to find out more about Benitez’s surprise arrival, he learned Benitez had a health concern, for which the pope helped him get an unknown medical treatment. However, Benitez opted not to do it. However, O’Malley eventually learns what the procedure was.
Lawrence goes to confront Benitez, wanting him to confirm what the procedure was. Benitez says it was a laparoscopic hysterectomy, which would have removed the uterus he has had since birth; it’s never specifically said, but I’m guessing he has both male and female reproductive organs. Ultimately, Benitez opted not to have the procedure because he thought who was he to undo God’s work. The previous pope was aware of Benitez’s situation.
It now is up to Lawrence on whether to share this information. Ultimately, he decides not to, allowing Benitez to become the next pope. Why?
Throughout the movie Lawrence is being reminded by others no pope has ever been without secrets or faults; the conclave is not about finding a perfect pope, but the best one to lead the church. From Adeyemi to Tremblay to Tedesco, Lawrence saw something he believed disqualified them and took action. But with Benitez he decides to look past what for many may be seen as disqualifying because he believes he is the best person to take on the mantle.
However, despite this progressive step by Lawrence, the final image of the movie makes it seem as if the church is not there yet. As the sequester of the Vatican is lifted, Lawrence looks toward the door of the pope’s living quarters. The final image is of the door shutting. To me that would seem to indicate the church, and even Benitez himself, will shield his truth as a way to not risk their power and influence by sharing it with the world.
Conclave is now playing exclusively in movie theaters in the US; it releases in the UK on November 15.
