Four ways the film Conclave sheds light on the secretive way popes are chosen3 days ago Share Save Jemma Crew BBC News Share SaveAlamy Ralph Fiennes plays Cardinal Lawrence, who attempts to shape the outcome of the raceThe 2024 film Conclave - a box office hit and Oscar winner - tells the story of a papal election in which there are no obvious favourites. On Wednesday 7 May, life follows fiction when 134 cardinals begin the process of electing a successor to Pope Francis. But what does the film tell us about how the conclave could unfold, and why do people find the process so fascinating? Alamy In Conclave, Cardinal Benitez enters the process unknown to his fellow cardinals'A very human thing'The film presents the cardinals as fallible human beings jostling for power. Prof Rowlands says the film provides a peek behind a process, with all elements of human nature and human life in it: "Loss.