The Two Popes

Netflix’s The Two Popes is a quiet film following the conversation of Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, resulting in Cardinal Jorge becoming Pope Francis. The film is not bombastic, nor is it geared towards pulling the biggest audience. It is solely a conversation between its two characters, both trying to get what they want but also explaining their theology to the other. The cinematography is beautiful, the editing is snappy, and the dialogue really reflects a lot of conversation within the church today. But most importantly, it creates realistic and heartwarming characters out of these real life people.

The special flare of this film are the two legendary actors feeding off each other in each scene. Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathon Pryce as Pope Francis are fantastic. There will definitely be Oscar buzz with at least one of these performances, because this film gives them the screentime to pull meaning out of every line. There are little moments of fun and heart, and then there are deep dissections of their characters’ past mistakes that haunt their souls. There are so many angles of character revealed in this film because its soul purpose is Pope Benedict XVI testing Cardinal Jorge’s faith to see if he is fit to be the next Pope. They begin as opponents, meet together as critics of each other, and then end as lifelong friends—and the film shows all of this on screen. Their entire development evolves in front of you, letting you grow with them in their understandings of each other.

That basically encapsulates the entire film, but it is not just a drawn out conversation between two old Catholics—that would be boring. The craft of how this friendship grows is the surprising aspect of the film. The editing is unlike the average, Oscar-bait drama. The cuts are snappy, the music is upbeat and oddly mixes both pop with church organs, and the cinematography really shines with the Vatican City setting. The camera enjoys the scenery, pulling back to not only bask in the art but also highlight the immense scale of the issues at stake. The stage the characters stand on engulfs them in history and tradition, shrinking them to the size of a mouse as they negotiate. It reveals that the Church is too big for its leaders to follow their own path, it must be steered in the right direction, which drives the urgency of what seems like such a small conflict within the story.

Overall, this film finds a way to discuss the present problems of the Church by telling a heartwarming story about the friendship of the two living Popes. It does so with an outside perspective, using the camera as if to spy through the windows of the basilica and understand just how the Church is being run. It brings the real world to Church leaders, but it also presents an enjoyable film doing so, which is an impressive feat that is rarely realized.

Story Rating: 8/10

Character Rating: 8/10