See how the award-winning film Conclave hits the Save the Cat! story beats.
Written by: Peter Straughan
Based on: the 2016 novel by Robert Harris
Directed by: Edward Berger
Genre: Institutionalized
The 3 elements of an INSTITUTIONALIZED story are:
- Every story in this category is about a group—a family, an organization, or a business that is unique.
- The story is a choice, the ongoing conflict pitting a “Brando” or “Naif” vs. the system’s “Company Man.”
- Finally, a sacrifice must be made and you get three endings: join, burn it down… or commit “suicide.”
Opening Image: As background music worthy of a horror film plays, a man, breathing hard, walks through a dark tunnel with cars whizzing past. In an elevator, we see something richly red clutched in the man’s hand which turns out to be a zucchetto (skullcap); he shakily places it on his head as an automated voice announces his floor in Italian.
As he walks down a marble hallway, a crowd of men—only men—move out of the way, showing their deference to Thomas Cardinal Lawrence (a brilliant Ralph Fiennes). The tone is set: high drama, nail-biting intrigue, the wildly visual dichotomy of ancient church rituals vs. the automated modern world, and the graphic maleness of a deeply entrenched patriarchy.
Set-Up: At the bed of the recently deceased and unnamed pope, four Cardinals kneel in prayer: the British liberal Lawrence; Aldo Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), an American liberal; Joseph Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), a Canadian moderate; and Joshua Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), a Nigerian conservative. As they remove the pope’s ring, tears stream down Lawrence’s face, attesting to his genuine affection for the late pope and, as we’ll discover shortly, his significant struggle with his own faith.
The Dean of the College of Cardinals, it is Lawrence’s responsibility to oversee the conclave where a new pope must be chosen by a 2/3 majority, which is an extremely thorny and plainly political process. Tremblay, Adeyemi, and Bellini are vying for the papacy, along with Goffredo Cardinal Tedesco, a charismatic far-right traditionalist who still desires to perform the mass in Latin—comprehension by the laity be damned.
Theme Stated: Monsignor Raymond O’Malley (Brian F. O’Byrne) watches as the Sistine Chapel is closed up tight, declaring the conclave “a pretty fair vision of hell.” Truly, there is a Sartrean No Exit feel to both the physical and spiritual aspects of this thesis world; all is tradition, all is certainty and rigidity, all is constricted, airless, and seemingly eternal.
Catalyst: Although his new assignment as overseer of the conclave should be fairly obvious upon the pope’s death, Lawrence is in “spiritual” mode, aka, denial, until Tremblay formally announces “The throne of the Holy See is vacant.” All rheumy eyes turn to Lawrence to witness the barely disguised dread on his face.
Debate: Clearly, Lawrence wants no part of being head serpent of the snake pit; he confesses to Bellini that he had recently attempted to resign as Dean but the Holy Father refused, declaring Lawrence the consummate “manager.”
Lawrence writes his homily and fulfills his duties as the cardinals arrive, but the immediate soap opera-level of drama offers far too many things that need fixing for Lawrence’s taste. Prefect Janusz Wozniak (Jacek Koman) confesses a secret: in the last meeting before his death, the Holy Father had dismissed Cardinal Tremblay for gross misconduct.
While the stunned Lawrence tries to figure out if Janusz is telling the truth, he is handed even more shocking information—there’s another cardinal joining the conclave, one that they didn’t even know existed. Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz) was created in pectore (secretly) by the pope to ensure his safety, as he is the archbishop of Kabul, Afghanistan.
Add in some unabashed racism from Tedesco and a healthy dose of claustrophobia from staying in the dormitory-like Domus Sanctae Marthae, and by the time Lawrence prepares himself for bed the night before the conclave, he is shaking with frustration and rage, ripping his toiletries out of a vacuum-sealed package and smashing them into the sink.
Break into Two: Lawrence stares at himself in the bathroom mirror and grudgingly accepts his fate: “You’re a manager. Manage.”
Fun and Games: The conclave begins with a bang when Lawrence delivers an opening homily straight out of an upside-down antithesis world. He blandly intones the usual in Latin, “let God guide us to the right choice, let us honor the church, let us blah blah blah,” and then switches to English to reveal his heart: he desires a pope who doubts, because certainty is the enemy of unity, tolerance, and faith itself.
His words are like a verbal bomb going off in a pristine building (foreshadowing, ya filthy sinners) and the cardinals stare at him, dumbfounded, as Lawrence does a full-on walk of shame/alarm/suspicion back to his dressing chamber.
The first vote is taken, and the result is grim: Cardinal Adeyemi leads, but barely, followed closely by Tedesco, Tremblay, and Bellini. There are a few mild shockers, as Lawrence himself gets five votes and the newcomer Benitez gets a vote, but no one is even close to the necessary majority of 72 votes.
As black smoke pours out of the furnace to signify that no pontiff has been chosen, Lawrence gets reamed by Bellini for his “doubt” homily; it rattled the cage far too vigorously, splitting the liberals. Doesn’t Lawrence realize that Tedesco would undo 60 years of progress and the homophobic Adeyemi is no better? It seems obvious to Bellini that Lawrence desires the papacy himself, which shocks Lawrence into silence: does he??
B Story: There’s a healthy handful of important relationships in Conclave, Lawrence and Bellini’s fraught friendship topping the list, but the primary B Story relationship is cleverly invisible: Lawrence’s struggle to connect with God, to restore his first love, gives this popcorn thriller its heart and soul.
Midpoint: In a painful false defeat, Lawrence kneels at his bedside, trying to pray—and failing. A and B Stories cross as an image comes to his mind: the deceased pope, a visual representation of God himself, staring at Lawrence with an unreadable expression. Is “God” angry? Frustrated? Patient? Does He even exist or is He every bit as dead as the Holy Father?
Bad Guys Close In: The politicking ramps up exponentially. Cardinal Adeyemi has become the front runner, but after a very public confrontation with Sister Shanumi (Balkissa Maiga) in the cafeteria, the truth comes out: Adeyemi and Shanumi had an affair in Nigeria that produced a child 30 years prior and this disqualifies him for the papacy. When Adeyemi tries to play the “give us a pope who sins” card, Lawrence brings in reality; the public will not stand for any more sexual scandal from the church.
Adeyemi vanquished, the moderate Tremblay is next in line, but guess what? There’s a rumor going around that it was Tremblay who secretly brought Sister Shanumi in, which would disqualify him. Suspecting that Tremblay is seriously suss, Lawrence consults Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), who grudgingly allows him to look at her records, giving him just enough information to become truly desperate.
All Is Lost: In a sacrilegious and humiliating act, Lawrence breaks the seal on the Holy Father’s room and enters, trying to find evidence to disqualify Tremblay.
Dark Night of the Soul: He finds nothing. Overwhelmed and ashamed, Lawrence sits on the bed and breaks down in tears; he is no better than any of the other backstabbing, political cardinals.
Break into Three: After a good, cleansing crying jag, Lawrence looks up and spies a set of documents hidden behind the pope’s headboard.
Finale: Lawrence gathers the team, although not quite the one he’d imagined: his friend Bellini refuses to join him in bringing down Tremblay, but Sister Agnes does. Together they execute the plan by outing Tremblay—not only did he bring in Sister Shunami, but he’s spent the last year committing the sin of simony, paying cardinals to vote for him for pope.
Tremblay disqualified, there is only Lawrence and the extremist Tedesco vying for the papacy. Cue high tower surprise #1, which literally comes from above as a terrorist’s bomb shatters the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Ever the opportunist, Cardinal Tedesco seizes this moment to declare a holy war, railing against the liberals who tolerate other religions, particularly Islam.
As the traumatized cardinals start to think that maybe Tedesco is right, Benitez stands and gently lets the air out of Tedesco’s self-righteous balloon. His inspiring speech about not giving into hate changes the entire landscape and Lawrence gladly—and somewhat sadly—sees the truth: Benitez is not a manager like himself, but a visionary, and the only choice for the papacy. Luckily, the required 72 cardinals agree.
But lest we think that the lowly and humble Vincent Benitez becoming the head of the worldwide Catholic Church is high tower surprise #2, think again. O’Malley, stunned by the results of the vote, has some head-spinning medical information that causes Lawrence to dash to Benitez’s chambers for answers.
Benitez calmly admits that at one point he had considered undergoing an extremely unusual treatment for a priest: a laparoscopic hysterectomy. Lawrence nearly faints, thinking that the new Pope might possibly be a trans man, but Benitez clarifies that he was born intersex and decided against surgery because “I am what God made me.”
A and B Stories cross, synthesis is achieved, and Lawrence’s prayer has been answered—God him/herself has undermined tradition and patriarchy and has given them a leader that knows what it’s like to “exist between the world’s certainties.”
Final Image: White smoke alerts the world that a new pope has been chosen and the closed-off hell of the Vatican opens up, the window shades raising and letting in the light. As a small group of nuns walk through the courtyard, talking and laughing, Lawrence watches them and smiles, finally at peace and enjoying God’s quirky sense of humor.
