The Conclave Director explains the ending’s final twists

It’s already quite a shocking – and unlikely – scenario before we know true The film’s final twist: in addition to Cardinal Benitez becoming the priest chosen to ascend to the highest patriarchal office, Benitez will also become the first Pope born with the anatomy of both a man and a woman – a fact that the strictly reclusive man did not do. even realize until he was 30 years old. At the time, this caused him to struggle with his faith and identity, as does one of the few priests who now learn the truth. However, in the end, Cardinal Lawrence decides to keep Pope Innocent’s secret and see him as God created him.

We doubt many viewers saw this coming unless they read Robert Harris’s novel. Conclave based on. The ending not only intentionally challenges what many conservative Catholics may think they know about gender, but it also, in its own way, subverts a film that is often defined by its sense of doubt. Wasn’t it our protagonist who delivered a prophetic sermon on the importance of doubt for a pontiff? And yet the man who will become the next pope is full of faith, even though his existence is contrary to the rule and letter associated with papal law.

These tensions, both within the realm of gender and belief, caught the attention of director Edward Berger as we discussed the film’s ending.

“I think at the end of the day, Ralph realizes that the right man is becoming Pope,” Berger says of the ending. “Because this is a pure man who still believes… and I think that’s what it’s about. To preserve the purity and innocence of your true faith. It doesn’t really matter whether you are a cardinal, or a director, or a journalist, or an engineer.”

However, it must be acknowledged that the film does deal in many ways with the third rail that is currently going on among Catholic Church conservatives in the US and beyond, with debates about gender become a central part presidential elections in the USA. According to Berger, such discussions have two elements, the first of which is the absurdity that in some circles such an ending could be considered offensive.

“People might disagree,” Berger shrugs. “It doesn’t bother me. I really think that this fanatical fundamentalism is an American phenomenon that is not so much in Europe. Probably (there) a little, but not that much. So I just didn’t care. You mean, religious fanatics? I don’t have them in my daily life in Europe.” But more importantly, he believes the ending enters into a debate about a type of leadership dating back to antiquity, including the founding of the Catholic Church.