Directed by Edward Berger (who helmed the impressive and brutal Netflix reboot of All Quiet on the Western Front) with a screenplay by Peter Straughan (who co-wrote Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), this juicy election drama takes viewers into the inner sanctum of the Vatican at a time when the whole world is watching. The irony is that the world isn’t allowed to see anything.

The film begins with the death of the Pope. A heart attack, it seems. No one doubts the old man died of natural causes. But Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), Dean of the College of Cardinals, is uneasy. There are conflicting reports of the Holy Father’s last meeting – information that could prove crucial to the election of the next pope. A doubter to the core, Lawrence – whose plans for a secluded retirement are suddenly put on hold – also harbours misgivings about the institution of the Church itself.

Ralph Fiennes in Conclave.

But the throne cannot remain empty and it’s Lawrence’s job to manage the fraught process of the election of a new pope, a process largely unchanged since the 13th century. A handful of high-profile cardinals are in the...