The gripping thriller, starring Ralph Fiennes, follows the dramatic events inside the Vatican as top Catholic Cardinals gather to vote for a new pontiff.
Following the death of Pope Francis at age 88, this fictional depiction has seen a sudden and significant surge in popularity across streaming platforms.
According to Variety, Conclave viewership jumped by 283% in just 24 hours.
The film recorded 1.8 million viewership minutes on 20 April, just one day before Pope Francis’ passing was announced.
By 21 April, that figure had skyrocketed to 6.9 million minutes. Currently, Conclave is available for free on Amazon Prime Video and can also be accessed via various PVOD platforms.
Based on Robert Harris’ 2016 novel of the same name, the film follows Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (played by Fiennes), who is tasked with organising the sacred conclave.
As the process unfolds, he discovers a web of scandals and secrets surrounding the potential successors to the papacy.
The film earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, the latter of which it won. The cast also features Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini.
Conclave premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to gross $32.5 million domestically and $115.6 million worldwide against a $20 million budget. Its award season buzz aligned closely with Francis’ declining health earlier this year.
The Pope had been hospitalised in February due to kidney failure.
During the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Rossellini took a moment to address him directly: “First of all, we would like to wish Pope Francis a quick recovery,” she said on stage. Backstage, she added, “Pope Francis, I wish him well.”
Fellow cast member Sergio Castellitto echoed her sentiment:
“For us that live in Rome, to live at a few meters, few yards from the Pope is to have a much closer relationship. We see the helicopter leaving his place: ‘Oh, is the Pope flying off today and coming back!’ So, our relationship as Italians to the Pope is much closer. I repeat, I really wish him well.”
Interest in papal-themed content has not been limited to Conclave.
Netflix’s The Two Popes also experienced a surge in viewership, jumping 417% from Sunday to Monday. The film, which centres around real-life conversations between Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins) and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), the future Pope Francis, climbed from 290,000 minutes viewed to 1.5 million in just one day.
As Catholics around the world await news of who will be chosen to succeed Pope Francis, the convergence of cinema and current events is offering many a unique lens into the sacred yet secretive rituals behind the Vatican walls.