White smoke on the silver screen

From hushed chambers to Hollywood screens, the mysterious ritual of the papal conclave continues to captivate audiences worldwide

- Udita Jhunjhunwala

The world was looking at the Sistine Chapel as the Vatican's first papal conclave in over a decade began on 7 May, following the death of Pope Francis on 21 April. The conclave ended on 8 May with Leo XIV stepping onto the Vatican balcony as the 267th Pope.

In the lead-up to the conclave that elects the head of the Catholic Church, global streaming platforms saw a dramatic resurgence of interest in papacy-themed movies and series that offer an imagined and fictionalized glimpse of this private ecclesiastical ritual.

According to viewership tracking agency Luminate, Edward Berger's film Conclave, which was nominated for eight Oscars this year and won Best Adapted Screenplay, saw an astonishing 283% spike in global viewership in the 24 hours following Pope Francis's passing. Adapted from a Robert Harris novel, the film, which became available to subscribers of Amazon Prime Video on 7 May, stars Ralph Fiennes as a conflicted cardinal thrust into the heart of the conclave. It shows the psychological and spiritual tensions that simmer during the abstruse proceedings unfolding behind the bolted wooden doors of the Vatican. Conclave places the viewer directly within the ornate, locked halls of the Sistine Chapel as scarlet-robed cardinals lobby, vote, and pray their way toward a successor.