A thriller about the election of the Pope drew crowds at the Rome Film Festival near the Vatican.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is weeks away from his 88th birthday, and preparations for his successor are in full swing at the Vatican.

How timely then, that on the other side of the city, in Rome, Conclave The thriller, filled with treacherous, manipulative cardinals who are quick to throw morality out the window while promoting their candidate, became the main draw of the Rome Film Festival.

This may be too close – literally and figuratively – for Pope Francis.

Austrian-Swiss director Edward Berger, who directed All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), adapted the film from Robert Harris’ 2016 novel Conclave. Berger casts the extraordinary Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, dean of the College of Cardinals responsible for organizing the conclave.

The conclave is a centuries-old tradition in which, after the death of a pope, cardinals gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to participate in rounds of voting until a new pontiff is elected. Conclave comes from the Latin “cum clave,” meaning “with a key,” meaning the cardinals are locked away until they choose a new leader for the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

The entire process takes place under a spectacular ceiling frescoed by Michelangelo, while the wall behind the altar is covered by his masterpiece The Last Judgment, depicting the fate of people heading to heaven or hell. Throughout the process, the prelates are cut off from communication with the outside world and must live in seclusion inside the Vatican.

Conclaves have a reputation for frictionless competition as cardinals make backroom deals to elect their favorites by secret ballot.

At the end of each round of voting, ballots are thrown into a specially built oven in the Sistine Chapel, where a chemical is added to color the smoke.

Tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square awaiting the result will know whether a new Pope has been elected or not by the smoke emerging from the chimney. Black means the cardinals have not yet chosen a Pope, white means a new Pope has been chosen.

IN ” Conclave Stanley Tucci plays Aldo Bellini, a progressive American cardinal fighting against the powerful conservative Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco, played by Sergio Castellitto, and Canadian Cardinal Joseph Tremblay, played by John Lithgow. Nigerian Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi, played by Lucian Msamati, could become the first black pope, but his homophobic views clash with those of progressives.

Although women remain excluded from the conclave and the highest levels of Vatican power, they provide assistance in humble roles serving the cardinals during the conclave period. Isabella Rossellini plays a surprising nun as a quiet observer who doesn’t miss a trick.

Although the film is a thriller, it often gets close to real events and current debates in the Vatican. As the film’s stars walked the red carpet, some wondered how the film would perform at the Vatican.

“It’s intriguing. Are they sitting in the Vatican watching the news about the Conclave? – said actor Fiennes. “I’m sure there are a few people in the Vatican who would be interested in seeing what the film has to say.”

Despite his age and serious health problems, including a bad knee that forced him to use a wheelchair, Pope Francis does not appear to be slowing down. In August, he embarked on his longest and most challenging journey ever, visiting four countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This month he presided over the synod, a three-week meeting of more than 360 bishops and laity to discuss the future of the church.

But Francis is not immortal. Discussions about who could be his successor have already begun, but it remains to be seen whether the next real conclave will be as exciting as the film.