Though controversial, one of the least contentious 2025 Oscar-nominated films was “Conclave,” an Edward Berger-directed mystery thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini and Stanley Tucci, which brings to life the political and religious traditions regarding how Catholic cardinals elect a new pope.

The conclave will gather again in actuality as the Vatican revealed that Pope Francis, 88, the leader of the Catholic Church, passed on April 21, 2025, the day after Easter Sunday.

Though released in October 2024, “Conclave” struck a deep chord with viewers as Pope Francis’ declining health was made known to the public in February 2025. Pope Francis battled bilateral pneumonia in the months before his death.

Catholic cardinals will gather for a papal conclave in the weeks following Pope Francis’ death on April 21, 2025. (Arturo Mari, Vatican Pool)

The deeper issue, Doyle said, is that the film portrays men in leadership roles and women as servants.

“The conversation about transgender is relatively recent [in the church],” Doyle said. “I really think that the conversation is more in the United States and Europe than it is in the Catholic Church globally or even necessarily in Rome.”

The Vatican released a declaration, Vatican’s Dignitas Infinita, in 2024 where Pope Francis condemned gender theory. The document asserted that attempts to alter an individual’s immutable gender are ultimately misguided attempts to play God.

“You could watch this whole movie and until the last two minutes it’s not an issue in the film. It doesn’t really come up. There’s a couple of foreshadowings of what the conclusion is going to be, but the movie is not about that,” Doyle said.

Following Pope Francis’ death, Doyle believes the newly released film will generate interest in the Catholic Church. 

“It may make people more aware that there is a lot of politicking that goes on and that is an interesting theme in the movie and in the book,” he said. “I don’t think it will really have any impact on how people think about the church other than to maybe in general, it makes the ideal of the conclave interesting.”

“Conclave” was nominated for a slew of 2025 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor, and won for Best Adapted Screenplay.