The movie “Conclave” has had a recent spurt of interest. This has served to shine an old spotlight on the unique and cloistered process of choosing a pope in the Catholic Church. The documentary, which was originally released in theaters this past October, just became available to stream on Amazon Prime this week. What it did was communicate to audiences by dramatically recreating the rigorous voting process that occurs inside a papal conclave. With the passing of Pope Francis on Monday, the film’s exploration of faith, leadership, and power makes for a timely warehouse conversation.
On just Sunday alone, “Conclave” added an amazing 1.8 million minutes streamed on average. After the announcement of Pope Francis’s death, all religious viewership increased significantly with a whopping 283% increase from Sunday to Monday. Based on Luminate data, viewers spent more than 6.9 million minutes consuming the film on Monday alone. As of Tuesday, its cumulative views had exceeded 18.3 million on several streaming platforms.
Besides the mystery of the conclave, the film beautifully illustrates the Catholic Church’s ritualistic past. It further explores the contemporary mystique that continues to envelop this crucial episode in our history. As John Lithgow noted, “The film has ended up extremely timely … and it’s about the social organism electing a leader.” It’s this relevance that has created a robust counter-discussion on social media. Users are already posting memes and fan edits that make comparisons between “Conclave” and modern pop culture, pitting it against mega-hits like “The Real Housewives” and “Mean Girls.”
Even cast members of the movie “Conclave” recognized this timeliness, when they accepted the award for Outstanding Cast at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in February. They pointed out that life was beginning to imitate art, especially while we were all listening to the discussion about who might succeed Pope Francis. Michael Moreland remarked on how the film illustrates the interplay of theological significance and partisan politics within the context of papal elections: “The significance of the theological and spiritual aspects of Catholicism and this process of electing a pope was kind of reduced into partisan politics.”
Our cause-based supporters on social media were an incredibly powerful force in creating interest in and buzz around “Conclave.” As we said at the beginning, many of those same themes have been discussed as being sharply relevant to current discussions about leadership within religious communities. Pope Crave emphasized this connection, saying, “I think there’s a lot of grief and pain attached to current events, and being able to use Conclave memes as a common/shared language of community offers some brevity and humor to a clandestine process and historical event that will significantly alter the trajectory of many peoples’ lives.”
The film’s representation of the conclave process—where cardinals gather in secrecy to elect a new pope—has intrigued both Catholic and non-Catholic audiences alike. Lithgow elaborated on this mystique: “All the charisma and the mystery around Catholicism and the ways in which these men in the College of Cardinals go about assembling and deliberating and voting in the secret process that no one except one of them has seen.”
With its unconventional format and narrative style, “Conclave” takes audiences on an unexpected journey. It does more than just entertain, it’s igniting vital discussions around leadership and governance. Pope Crave observed that for many fans, there is a tangible connection between their enthusiasm for the film and real-world events: “I cannot speak for the religious breakdown of ‘Conclave’ fans, but it doesn’t shock me that Catholic fans of the film would be engaged in the actual papal conclave outcomes.”
The film’s influence reached further than just how many people watched it. The analytical findings reveal a surprising 3,200% jump in “Conclave” week-over-week. This incredible increase signals an unprecedented public demand for its substance as discussions of leadership changes in our country’s most significant institutions grow louder.