White smoke on the silver screen

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.

- Udita Jhunjhunwala

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.

In reality, over 100 cardinal electors were sequestered in the Vatican chapel to vote in secret, in this ancient and opaque ritual that culminated in the selection of a new pope. The process can take anything from days to months, but this year it took just one day before white smoke emanated from the chimney of the Vatican to indicate that a new pontiff had been elected. The practice, rich in symbolism and mystery, has captivated filmmakers for decades.