# Conclave (2024 film)
*Conclave* is a 2024 political thriller film directed by [Edward Berger](https://www.edgepedia.org/edward-berger) and written by Peter Straughan, adapted from Robert Harris's 2016 novel of the same name, in which Cardinal Thomas Lawrence ([Ralph Fiennes](https://www.edgepedia.org/ralph-fiennes)) presides over the papal conclave held to elect a new pope after the pontiff's unexpected death, and uncovers secrets that could shake the foundations of the Church[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/conclave). The cast also includes [Stanley Tucci](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-tucci), John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Carlos Diehz, Sergio Castellitto, and Lucian Msamati[2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/conclave). The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in 2024 and opened in cinemas on October 25, 2024 through Focus Features[3](https://www.bertelsmann.com/en/media/news/an-oscar-for-conclave.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Edward Berger; screenplay by Peter Straughan, adapted from Robert Harris's 2016 novel[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/conclave) |
| Lead cast | Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Carlos Diehz, Sergio Castellitto, Lucian Msamati[2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/conclave) |
| Release | Telluride premiere 2024; US theatrical release October 25, 2024 (Focus Features)[3](https://www.bertelsmann.com/en/media/news/an-oscar-for-conclave.html) |
| Running time | 120 minutes; rated PG in the US for thematic material and smoking[2](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/conclave) |
| Box office | $32,580,655 domestic and $103,100,103 worldwide against a $20,000,000 production budget[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Conclave-%282024%29) |
| Academy Awards | Eight nominations including Best Picture; won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 97th Academy Awards[3](https://www.bertelsmann.com/en/media/news/an-oscar-for-conclave.html) |
| BAFTAs | Twelve nominations; won Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay, and Editing[5](https://www.screendaily.com/features/house-execs-talk-conclave-challenges-bbc-relationship-and-upcoming-projects/5201690.article) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and characters
After the death of a beloved, reformist pope, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, dean of the [College of Cardinals](https://www.edgepedia.org/college-of-cardinals), is tasked with convening and running the secret ritual that will name a new pontiff[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/conclave). The cardinals are sequestered inside the [Sistine Chapel](https://www.edgepedia.org/sistine-chapel) and the living quarters of the [Domus Sanctae Marthae](https://www.edgepedia.org/domus-sanctae-marthae) to avoid outside influence, and the race has several frontrunners: the progressive Secretary of State Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), the reactionary Patriarch of Venice Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), the centrist Canadian Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), and the conservative Nigerian Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), who stands to make history as the first Black pope[6](https://time.com/7095853/conclave-robert-harris-interview/).
As scandals eliminate candidates and others rise and fall in the rankings, Lawrence uncovers a trail of secrets left by the dead pope[1](https://www.focusfeatures.com/conclave). A latecomer, Cardinal Vincent Benitez ([Carlos Diehz](https://www.edgepedia.org/carlos-diehz)), an archbishop from Kabul, arrives with paperwork declaring that the late pope had made him a cardinal *in pectore*, meaning "in secret"[7](https://apnews.com/article/87cd4c676f690abc64ac20a308531047). After a speech condemning hate and extolling the necessity of progress, Benitez unexpectedly wins the election[6](https://time.com/7095853/conclave-robert-harris-interview/).
## Adaptation
The film is a close adaptation. Screenwriter Peter Straughan, previously nominated for an Academy Award for *Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy*, said he remained very faithful to the novel because it was written in a precise, controlled manner that "worked well as a thriller plot"[3](https://www.bertelsmann.com/en/media/news/an-oscar-for-conclave.html). Harris himself called it probably the closest, most faithful adaptation of any of his books to reach the screen[8](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/21/arts/conclave-author-robert-harris-pope-francis/). Minor character tweaks were made; Lawrence is British in the film rather than Italian as in the book, a change made after Berger struggled to find an Italian actor who could carry the role[6](https://time.com/7095853/conclave-robert-harris-interview/) • [9](https://www.screendaily.com/features/edward-berger-on-achieving-his-razor-sharp-conclave-shots-upcoming-projects/5199951.article). Harris was inspired by the 2005 conclave that elected [Pope Benedict XVI](https://www.edgepedia.org/pope-benedict-xvi), and described the papal election as "the ultimate election, for God's representative on Earth, the spiritual leader of one and a third billion people"[10](https://apnews.com/article/d348b2c46bfc436fbce42db89eb168c0).
## Production
**Filming in Rome.** The film was shot entirely in Italy in 2023, on location in Rome and at Cinecittà Studios, where Fremantle's Italian subsidiary Wildside served as service producer[3](https://www.bertelsmann.com/en/media/news/an-oscar-for-conclave.html). Because the Vatican does not allow filming at the Sistine Chapel or the Casa Santa Marta, production designer Suzie Davies built replicas at [Cinecittà](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinecitta), including the chapel, a Casa Santa Marta corridor, and cardinals' quarters; the 40-day shoot was split roughly evenly between locations around Rome and the studio sets[11](https://www.motionpictures.org/2024/10/conclave-production-designer-suzie-davies-on-recreating-the-worlds-most-secretive-succession-events/) • [12](https://www.screendaily.com/features/bespoke-jewellery-and-a-claustrophobic-mood-creating-the-visual-look-of-conclave/5201098.article). The composer was Volker Bertelmann, Berger's collaborator on *All Quiet on the Western Front*, who used unconventional instruments to evoke an ethereal quality[13](https://www.latimes.com/screenings/envelope-live/story/2025-01-30/producer-tessa-ross-screenwriter).
The project predated Berger's Oscar-winning *All Quiet on the Western Front*: producers Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell of House Productions optioned Harris's book after reading the first three chapters and commissioned Straughan, with Access Entertainment helping finance development[5](https://www.screendaily.com/features/house-execs-talk-conclave-challenges-bbc-relationship-and-upcoming-projects/5201690.article). Berger began developing the adaptation with Ross and Straughan around six years before release[9](https://www.screendaily.com/features/edward-berger-on-achieving-his-razor-sharp-conclave-shots-upcoming-projects/5199951.article).
## Accuracy
The film's release coincided with real Vatican events, and after the death of [Pope Francis](https://www.edgepedia.org/pope-francis) in April 2025 it drew wide attention as a primer on the actual election process[7](https://apnews.com/article/87cd4c676f690abc64ac20a308531047). Vatican experts judged it largely faithful. William Cavanaugh, a Catholic studies professor at [DePaul University](https://www.edgepedia.org/depaul-university), said the film tried to reproduce the mise-en-scène of the Vatican accurately and showed that much of the drama happens in pre-conclave conversations among cardinals[7](https://apnews.com/article/87cd4c676f690abc64ac20a308531047). Kathleen Sprows Cummings told PBS the movie "got so much right" and was "meticulously researched," citing the clothing, the conclave procedure, the burning of ballots, and the idea that a single speech could sway the vote[14](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/inside-the-mysterious-process-of-a-papal-conclave).
The balloting is depicted accurately: electors vote by secret ballot into a chalice, four rounds per day are held until a candidate wins a two-thirds majority, and ballots are burned after every two rounds, with black smoke signaling no election and white smoke a new pope[15](https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/may/01/how-accurate-conclave-movie-pope-francis/). The film's three-day conclave matches recent history; conclaves in the last century have been short, and none has lasted longer than a week since 1831[7](https://apnews.com/article/87cd4c676f690abc64ac20a308531047) • [15](https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/may/01/how-accurate-conclave-movie-pope-francis/).
**Identified errors.** [The Rev](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-rev). Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest and senior analyst at Religion News Service, called the admission of a cardinal *in pectore* into the conclave the film's biggest mistake: if the pope never announced the name publicly before the College of Cardinals, that cardinal has no right to attend[7](https://apnews.com/article/87cd4c676f690abc64ac20a308531047). Reese also noted that the dean's breaking of the seal of the confessional would be a mortal sin carrying automatic excommunication, and that a cardinal paying for votes, as shown in the film, is unheard of in modern times[7](https://apnews.com/article/87cd4c676f690abc64ac20a308531047). Kurt Martens, professor of canon law at the [Catholic University of America](https://www.edgepedia.org/catholic-university-of-america), objected to the film's framing of cardinals as liberal or conservative champions, noting that the two-thirds majority rule makes it unlikely that an extreme candidate could win[7](https://apnews.com/article/87cd4c676f690abc64ac20a308531047). The *in pectore* procedure itself does exist in canon law, and the Apostolic Constitution governing conclaves explicitly prohibits simony, the buying of hierarchical positions, under pain of excommunication[16](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2025/05/08/conclave-is-the-film-faithful-to-reality_6741038_8.html).
## Reception and awards
The film was one of the best-reviewed releases of 2024 and an awards-season fixture[17](https://www.whattowatch.com/news/how-to-watch-conclave). It received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 97th Academy Awards, where Straughan thanked Harris from the stage[3](https://www.bertelsmann.com/en/media/news/an-oscar-for-conclave.html). At the BAFTAs it took four awards from twelve nominations: Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay, and Editing[5](https://www.screendaily.com/features/house-execs-talk-conclave-challenges-bbc-relationship-and-upcoming-projects/5201690.article). Its screenplay had earlier won at the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Awards, and the USC Scripter Awards[3](https://www.bertelsmann.com/en/media/news/an-oscar-for-conclave.html). Berger was not nominated for Best Director[18](https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/06/85/31/02000/2025-02-13.pdf).
Criticism came from some Catholic commentators, who objected to the twist ending and the film's ideological framing of the cardinals[19](https://www.ncregister.com/cna/conclave-fact-vs-fiction-what-does-the-hit-movie-get-right-and-wrong). The Vatican press was more favorable: both *L'Osservatore Romano* and *Avvenire*, the Italian bishops' conference daily, gave the film rave reviews, with *Avvenire* praising its beauty, plot twists, and commentary on the current state of the Church[20](https://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/uploads/images/2025/03/01/55433.pdf).
## Box office
Against a $20 million production budget, the film grossed $32,580,655 domestically and $70,519,448 internationally for a worldwide total of $103,100,103, with the domestic share at 31.6 percent and legs of 4.93 times its biggest weekend[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Conclave-%282024%29). It earned about $9.4 million in the United Kingdom and Ireland for Black Bear[5](https://www.screendaily.com/features/house-execs-talk-conclave-challenges-bbc-relationship-and-upcoming-projects/5201690.article). In Spain, where it opened on December 2, 2024 through DeA Planeta, it sold 1,034,745 tickets for €7,192,099.54, and it was later nominated for the 2026 Goya Award for Best European Film[21](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?pelicula=167124&q=true). The Associated Press cited it among the smart thrillers that audiences turned out for in a turbulent 2024 box office year[22](https://apnews.com/article/cbdff5fc420047d187987d2aeed4db9f). Home release followed quickly: digital on November 26, 2024, Blu-ray and DVD on December 17, 2024, and 4K Ultra HD on February 11, 2025[23](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/press-release/conclave-press-release).
## References
1. [Conclave, Focus Features](https://www.focusfeatures.com/conclave)
2. [Conclave, Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/conclave)
3. [An Oscar For 'Conclave', Bertelsmann](https://www.bertelsmann.com/en/media/news/an-oscar-for-conclave.html)
4. [Conclave (2024) – Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Conclave-%282024%29)
5. [House Productions execs talk 'Conclave' challenges, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/features/house-execs-talk-conclave-challenges-bbc-relationship-and-upcoming-projects/5201690.article)
6. [Conclave Author Robert Harris on the Origin of His Best-Selling Vatican Thriller and Its Stunning Twist, TIME](https://time.com/7095853/conclave-robert-harris-interview/)
7. [So you saw 'Conclave' the movie. Here's what it got right – and wrong – about real-life conclaves, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/87cd4c676f690abc64ac20a308531047)
8. [The 'Conclave' author Robert Harris on selecting a pontiff, The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/21/arts/conclave-author-robert-harris-pope-francis/)
9. [Edward Berger on achieving his "razor sharp" 'Conclave' shots, Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/features/edward-berger-on-achieving-his-razor-sharp-conclave-shots-upcoming-projects/5199951.article)
10. [Author Robert Harris on 'Conclave' success ahead of Sunday's Oscars, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/d348b2c46bfc436fbce42db89eb168c0)
11. ['Conclave' Confidential: Production Designer Suzie Davies on Recreating One of the World's Most Secretive Events, The Credits](https://www.motionpictures.org/2024/10/conclave-production-designer-suzie-davies-on-recreating-the-worlds-most-secretive-succession-events/)
12. [Bespoke jewellery and "a claustrophobic mood": creating the visual look of 'Conclave', Screen Daily](https://www.screendaily.com/features/bespoke-jewellery-and-a-claustrophobic-mood-creating-the-visual-look-of-conclave/5201098.article)
13. [Producer Tessa Ross, Screenwriter Peter Straughan Discuss "Conclave" in Exclusive Q&A, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/screenings/envelope-live/story/2025-01-30/producer-tessa-ross-screenwriter)
14. [How does the movie 'Conclave' compare to the real thing? Here's what experts say, PBS News](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/inside-the-mysterious-process-of-a-papal-conclave)
15. [How faithful is 'Conclave' about the process of picking a new pope? We fact-checked the movie, PolitiFact](https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/may/01/how-accurate-conclave-movie-pope-francis/)
16. ['Conclave': Is the film faithful to reality?, Le Monde](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decodeurs/article/2025/05/08/conclave-is-the-film-faithful-to-reality_6741038_8.html)
17. [How to watch Conclave, WhatToWatch](https://www.whattowatch.com/news/how-to-watch-conclave)
18. [Arts & Entertainment, February 13, 2025](https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/AA/00/06/85/31/02000/2025-02-13.pdf)
19. ['Conclave' Fact vs. Fiction: What Does the Hit Movie Get Right and Wrong?, National Catholic Register](https://www.ncregister.com/cna/conclave-fact-vs-fiction-what-does-the-hit-movie-get-right-and-wrong)
20. [Arts & Entertainment, Arab Times, March 1, 2025](https://www.arabtimesonline.com/arabtimes/uploads/images/2025/03/01/55433.pdf)
21. [Datos de Pelicula ICAA – Catálogo de Películas, Ministerio de Cultura de España](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?pelicula=167124&q=true)
22. [Movies in 2024: Lessons from a turbulent year at the box office, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/cbdff5fc420047d187987d2aeed4db9f)
23. [Conclave Press Release, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/press-release/conclave-press-release)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2023–2024 films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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