Does ‘Conclave’ Have the Votes to Win Best Ensemble at the SAG Awards?

As we prepare for the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, Backstage is breaking down this year’s film and television ensemble nominees for your consideration. 

Main cast: Sergio Castellitto, Carlos Diehz, Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati, Merab Ninidze, Brían F. O’Byrne, Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci
Casting by: Barbara Giordani, Nina Gold, Francesco Vedovati, and Martin Ware
Directed by: Edward Berger
Written by: Peter Straughan
Distributed by: Focus Features

Edward Berger transforms this somber tale about a papal election into a pulpy political thriller, complete with actors who feel right at home in the filmmaker’s heightened reality. It’s the kind of movie that lives and dies on its central performances.

Ralph Fiennes leads the film as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, a church official charged with organizing a closed-door election in the wake of the pope’s demise. The two-time Oscar nominee plays Thomas as a conflicted man trying to balance duty and discretion. He learns secrets about his colleagues while wondering whether he might be a good fit for the position himself. With each revelation, he wrestles with his faith in the church he’s dedicated his life to serving. Fiennes moves carefully through the halls of the Vatican as if walking on eggshells, trying not to step on Catholic tradition. 

Each papal candidate has more than a few skeletons in his closet, and the actors portraying them find the delicate balance between regality and ambition. Though the progressive Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) is well-liked—and Thomas’ personal friend—he has ulterior motives that express themselves in unpleasant ways. The deceased pope’s confidant, Cardinal Tremblay, is equally two-faced, and John Lithgow brings him to life with a sense of cloying desperation.

Then there are the more traditional, socially regressive candidates, who become the film’s antagonists once Lawrence begins digging into their histories. Lucian Msamati’s Cardinal Adeyemi only needs to stay the course and nod politely in order to be elected as the world’s first African pope; but his outbursts reveal a past rife with transgressions. Msamati is the perfect emotional foil to Fiennes as both their characters wrestle with their place in the Vatican’s power structure. Meanwhile, the kindly but secretive Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz) is fighting a spiritual battle of his own. 

Head nun Sister Agnes plays a largely silent role, but that doesn’t stop Isabella Rossellini from turning in a captivating performance as a woman torn between serving the corrupt
cardinals while trying to protect the nuns in her convent.

But as wonderful as nuance can be, there’s nothing like a classic mustache-twirling villain—and Sergio Castellitto strikes like lightning as cocky traditionalist Cardinal Tedesco. The Italian actor chews the scenery even in the film’s most thoughtful moments. It’s a devilish contrast to the quieter performances, which only makes them stand out more.

The cast straddles a fine line between upholding tradition and indulging in secret desires, emphasizing the movie’s central question: What’s hiding inside the corridors of an institution as powerful as the Catholic Church? Berger takes a far more subtle visual approach to “Conclave” than he has to his previous work, foregrounding the actors’ performances rather than directorial flair. It’s rare to see an ensemble film in which each piece of the puzzle is so essential to bringing the project to life.