No spoilers: For the most part Edward Berger’s Conclave (Focus, 10.25), a present-tense, Vatican-set drama about cardinals choosing a new pope, sounds and behaves like a fairly traditional film.
And then the finale comes along and it’s like “whoa, mama.”
Without getting into specifics, the film is saying that the usual, centuries-old schemings and plottings won’t do, and that advanced countries are shifting into another mode or mindset.
Which is why, if you ask me, a majority of younger straight guys aren’t supporting Kamala Harris —- they can feel the subtle shifting of the cultural plates, and are sensing they’re being shunted aside. The tactile, under-educated screen obsessives, I mean.
There’s a final shot of two young nuns clucking happily about something…this kinda says it all.
Friendo: “Yeah, I get it, but all I’m saying is that it ends on a super-woke note.”
HE: “I’m not 100% delighted by the general shifting into an era of seismic change…a primal passing of the torch…but we can’t deny that this is clearly what’s starting to happen all over.
“Conclave is a cultural canary in the coal mine.”
“A typical progressive woman would say ‘WHAT? Women and LGBTQ wokesters are making a few inroads, but the world is still overwhelmingly run by dudes.’ But times are changing. The earth is moving under our feet.”
