Why So Blu?

Conclave (Blu-ray Review)

Religion has been a great subject to mine for cinema this year.  A great deal of the films centering on religion have in fact been in the horror and thriller genres, and interestingly, the films presented this year have also met with much acclaim from critics and audiences. Long since the days of The Omen and The Exorcist, the dark side of faith has been ripe for the screen. Now onto Conclave, a film that has much going on and happens to be not only respectful to its Catholic-centered subject, but also its audience. Led by a first-rate cast and excellent moody direction from Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), Conclave comes out just in time to stuff a stocking of the film fan in your family!

Film:

Based on the critically acclaimed, best-selling book of the same name, CONCLAVE follows one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events – selecting the new pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church.

Cardinal Lawrence has just witnessed the passing of the Pope.  He is placed in chard of running the Conclave that will see the leaders of the Catholic Church choosing the departed Holy Father’s successor. As with most major decisions involving voting, there are more secrets than outright facts.  This is an election quite like the ones we as the public partake in, but with faith involved, the repercussions of those faithful people can be damning beyond what we know.

As we venture through the process of choosing the new pope, we see jealous candidates like Canadian Cardinal Trembley (John Lithgow), or Conservative African Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) who makes progressives such as American Liberal Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci). The scandals, the secrets, and the lies are all witnessed not just by the voting cardinals, but also Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), who, like all nuns is meant to be made silent, but who cannot hold her tongue… thankfully.

There is a lot of inner work going on during a Conclave.  Sequestered with one another, and Papal candidates trying to sway their colleagues, Cardinal Lawrence must task himself with speaking with each candidate.  He tries his hardest to be objective and tries his best to also be civil.   Lawrence sees the discourse coming a mile away.  Things only become further complicated when a brand new and mysterious Cardinal makes his first appearance at this sacred voting time, Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), who has just appeared from Afghanistan.

Conclave is based on the novel of the same name by Robert Harris.  The film plays like a detective story. There isn’t hard drinking, dark wet streets or cigarette smoke here.  The scandals and secrets within still find ways to shock and surprise.  Thankfully, the stacked cast put a lot into their simple characters.  Each actor gives a surprising layer of depth to their parts.  You see the hunger from each Cardinal who wants to be pope.  You see the decision-making cogs in Cardinal Lawrence’s mind working.  When Lawrence begins to uncover the scandals, he also begins to tell those involved why they won’t become pope.  The heartbreak and the anguish and the disappointment reverberate from the screen.

Conclave plays like a grand complex thriller.  There are twists and turns and things that make you say “oooohhhh” as they are revealed.  The incredible cinematography and the massive and immersive score bring out so much as the story chugs along.  At a tight 2 hours, the film never feels slow.  Filled with dialogue and a sound design made to make you feel claustrophobic one moment and in a gigantic space in another, the film is rife with texture, color, shadows and light.  There aren’t many films made in 2024 that could match the style and the approach taken in Conclave.

I am not one for much having to do with religion.  I am a heretic by nature and a recovering Catholic in real life.  Watching Conclave did not feel like I was watching a movie based in religion.  Beautifully, I still feel the filmmakers and the actors meant to deliver a film that was not only entertaining and somehow very fun to watch, but also respectful to the Catholic church and their rituals for choosing a new Pope.  It’s this respect that makes Conclave feel very authentic and respectful.

Conclave feels like the religious mystery that The DaVinci Code and its sequels wished they could be.  There’s a freshness in the respect, the story not involving child abuse of any kind, and the resolved and progressive way the film ends. It’s a beautiful marriage of filmmakers’ vision, exceptional acting and excellent source material.  I was very invested in Conclave, and I hope that the film, debuting almost simultaneously on Blu-ray and Peacock will get an even bigger audience than it did in its theatrical run.  Now, I can’t wait to see the film again when it debuts on 4K UHD Blu-ray in 2025!

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4/AVC

Resolution: HD (1080P)

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Layers: BD-50

HDR: N/A

Clarity/Detail: Filled with amazing detail, texture, sharp focus and dense set pieces, Conclave shines on Blu-ray.  Looking like it was lovingly lensed, the film is shrouded in shadows and light, looking gorgeous from the first frame to the credits.

Depth: Lensing on the film is deliberate and respectful.  No quick cuts here.  Detail is evident in long shots and closeups in abundance, with a gorgeous texturing on clothing and furniture fabrics.

Black Levels: Blacks do wonders for the shadowy Sistine Chapel location. Shadows and black clothing both look even and dark.  There is nothing here that melts into a blob and thank the Lord for that!

Color Reproduction: Reds and burgundies are stunning here. The odd hint of blue or green comes to life as well.  Clothing makes for the most colorful and detailed moments on screen, and the Cardinal robes and suits and dresses look phenomenal.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones look natural, much like the Cardinals don’t spend much time outdoors.  Since this feels faithful to those real-life Cardinals, I see no flaw.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean

Audio

Audio Format(s): English Dolby TrueHD 7.1, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, English DVS Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles:  English SDH, Spanish, French

Dynamics: Universal has outfitted Conclave with an immersive 7.1 track.  The stinging penetrating score by Volker Bertelmann is a big highlight as well as the usage of natural on-location dialogue delivery that can sound tight and uncomfortable in some scenes but echoey and wide in others.  Depending on where the scene takes place, the sound mix heeds accuracy that is excellent.

Low-Frequency Extension: Bass comes in a few moments dealing with the chaos outside the church, such as car bombs.  Music also lights up the subwoofer with stabs of percussive piano and strings.

Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds pan the score and echoes around the room and offer some discrete effects of ambience too.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is priority for Conclave, and you hear it all loud and clear here.

Extras:

Extras for Conclave appear slim to none, but an excellent commentary and a better than it could’ve been featurette on the making of the film work to enhance the experience of Conclave at home.  One hopes more extras come with the 4K edition, but for now, these extras are good!

Bonus Features:

• Feature commentary by director Edward Berger
• Sequestered: Inside Conclave: Enter the mysterious world of CONCLAVE with the cast and filmmakers for a behind-the-scenes look at what it took to raise the curtain on one of the most secretive and secluded processes in the world.

Summary:

I am hopeful that more audiences will find Conclave at home.  The film made decent money for the type of movie it is, and that’s great too.  I quite honestly was very pleased with Conclave. It’s not just thoughtful, but it’s exciting, it’s biting, it’s even downright entertaining.  There truly is a great feeling in watching a film like Conclave seeing many amazing talents coming to life on screen in new ways.  There is a new, fresh feeling to the film, and it radiates from the screen.  This will easily stand up tall on my list of favorites from this year, and I hope some of you readers share my enjoyment of this excellent movie.

Order your copy of Conclave HERE