Adapted by:
John Tones
WriterI've been writing about culture for twenty-something years and, at Xataka, I cover everything related to movies, video games, TV shows, comics, and pop culture.
Karen Alfaro
WriterCommunications professional with a decade of experience as a copywriter, proofreader, and editor. As a travel and science journalist, I've collaborated with several print and digital outlets around the world. I'm passionate about culture, music, food, history, and innovative technologies.
Pope Francis’ death from a stroke last Monday has sparked global reactions, but one of the most unexpected is the revival of one of last season’s most acclaimed films: Conclave. The film explores a topic of immediate relevance—the intrigue surrounding the Vatican and the election of a new pope.
A vision of the future. Conclave opens with the sudden death of the pope from a heart attack, prompting the College of Cardinals to gather and elect his successor. The frontrunners represent different factions within the Church: an American progressive, a Nigerian social conservative, a Canadian conservative, and an Italian traditionalist. Told as a thriller, the film builds tension through political maneuvering, conspiracies and moral dilemmas, withholding its final twist until the end.
283% increase in views. According to Variety, the Ralph Fiennes-led film has seen a 283% spike in streaming views. It’s currently available for rental or buy on-demand platforms such as Apple and Fandango—except for Prime Video subscribers, who already had access to the film on the platform. For instance, on April 20, Conclave was watched for 1.8 million minutes. The day after the pope’s death, that number jumped to 6.9 million minutes.
Mystery solved. The renewed interest isn’t just due to the film’s critical acclaim—which includes a BAFTA for best film and eight Oscar nominations—but also its deep dive into the Vatican’s power dynamics. Some viewers have even drawn comparisons between the movie’s fictional candidates and real-world speculation over Pope Francis’ successor. For many, the mystery of a papal election boils down to “habemus papam” and white smoke, making Conclave a compelling and accessible entry point into the topic.
The pope counts. Conclave isn’t the only papal film seeing renewed attention. The Two Popes, the 2019 Netflix exclusive that dramatizes Benedict XVI’s retirement and Francis’ election—starring Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins—saw a 417% surge in viewership. Minutes watched jumped from 290,000 to 1.5 million since Sunday.
Image | Focus Features
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