Conclave, 2024 - Movie Review

The Oscar fever begins with one of the nominees of this year’s best picture, Conclave, hitting the screens for all of us movie buffs to celebrate the season of Hollywood’s best (allegedly). 

The film revolves around the political intrigue and drama that ensues after the sudden and unexpected death of the Pope, towards electing the next head of the most important Christian institution in the world, with a momentous gathering of all the cardinals from around the world. As the Conclave begins, and the voting starts, the desire for power amongst the most popular candidates is blatantly on display, the ugly politics within the most sacred institution is shamelessly seen, and the very human fallibility of these supposed holy messengers of God is exposed one by one, leading to a potential crisis of the lack of a clear leader, but eventually the choice of an unexpected-but-the-right Holy Father.

In many ways, the film is the perfect reflection of the reality of our times. (In fact, as we watch this in February 2025, it’s an extremely eery ‘art mimics life and life mimics art’ moment, where the Pope has actually been taken severely ill, as I write this!). A time, when the biggest war being fought in the world today is not Russia-Ukraine or Israel-Hamas, but the war between Liberals and Conservatives. This is a war that is being fought in every single country in the world, by every single society, within every single family and amongst every single group of friends. What till a few years ago was an individual choice of a way of life, has escalated into the most fundamental ‘us vs. them ’ in all of our lives. And with most democracies around the world pivoting to the right, it seems like this conversation (conflict? War?) is going to be one of the most defining themes of the coming decade (if not longer).

In this context, the the point of view that the film propagates (as one would expect Hollywood from LA to) hits the mark in a poignant way. Perhaps the best and the most defining scene in the film is the opening speech of the Conclave, that Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) delivers. His message of a hope for a new Pope that is human and fallible, who operates with doubt and rejects dogma, is the moment that captures in a few words, the essence of what being a liberal is all about. In making certainty the main enemy of mankind and celebrating doubt as a virtue, the film nails it.

The talented actors, as expected, deliver stunning performances. Ralph Fiennes as the protagonist brilliantly portrays the role of the dean thrown in the middle of delivering the most important decision in the Catholic world, trying to manage his own conflicts against his duties. Stanley Tucci, as Cardinal Bellini, the power hungry passionate liberal candidate, Lucian Msamati, as the initial most popular black candidate, John Litgow, as the unscrupulous Cardinal Tremblay, Sergio Castellito, as the hard Conservative Cardinal Tedesco, and Isabella Rossellini, as subtle-but-strong Sister Agnes. All of them deliver power packed characters that stay with us much after the film. This coupled with an immersive and Nolan-style cinematography and sound, makes for a good theatre-watching movie.

However, despite all this, as the film ends after the final climax is revealed (with the predictable victory for the liberal school of thought) we walk out feeling under-whelmed and un-moved. It’s the feeling of having been on a deeply engaging and emotional conversation with a really close friend, but after the conversation ended, feeling unheard or unsatisfied, resulting in not only us not getting closer, but actually pulling us a little bit apart. 

This is because of two failings in the film. One, after having made the case for the dire need for liberal and inclusive humanity more than ever (which we cheer for), the film gives very little new perspectives. As a result, for all the liberals watching this film, it ends up preaching to the converted, without offering any new insight or emotion. On the other hand, for all the conservatives watching this film, it is not hard hitting enough to even start an alternate conversation. Even the shaming of Cardinal Tedesco by the lesser known Cardinal Benitez, ends up being a weak attempt at the end.

The second failing of the film is the surprisingly unimpressive story-telling. At the end of the day a movie needs to engage and entertain as much as having a POV. But the long drawn scenes of voting, the lack of engaging dialogues, a missing narrative of what’s happening apart from the inevitable election of the Pope, all leaves us dissatisfied with the time we spent together with this film. Suffice it to say, that we put this film, in the list of the many Oscar films, that we know are there for their political or social view,  but in the end are not films we enjoyed watching. On to the next Oscar nominee…

Kill, 2023, Movie Review

The truth is that there aren't enough good action movies in the world, and even less so in Bollywood, that has always anchored its centre of gravity in romance, drama, comedy and patriotism as its chief genres. And that’s why, once in a while, when a kick-ass action film comes our way, we lap it up like a hungry dog that’s not been fed its favourite meat for days. Kill, directed by the talented writer-director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, now streaming on Disney+Hotstar, is all this and much more. 

The plot is simple. A train from Ranchi to Delhi, gets overtaken by local dacoits with a plan to loot the passengers. Their simple plan goes fast goes out of control when the protagonist, Capt Amrit Rathod and his friend Viresh (both from the NSG), fight back, both to resist the dacoitry as well as to protect Rathod’s girlfriend and her family, who are also traveling in the same train. What ensues is a brutal kill-a-thon as the bad guys start killing vulnerable people in the train including people dear to Rathod, and Rathod returning the compliment 10 times more violent, till the very end.

Simply put the film is “bloody” fantastic. It’s bloody AND it’s fantastic. The action sequences, almost entirely without guns, deliver the adrenaline pumping rush that one desires from an action film. The fights are heart thumping. The killing is violent. The good people dying is heart-breaking. And the vengeance is sweet and intense. Just what we want from a great violent kill-fest, like Kill Bill, or John Wick.

Lakshya, the new actor, as Capt Amrit Rathod, is an absolute joy to watch. As he goes about wrecking hell on the bad guys, single-handedly destroying the entire clan of bandits, we can’t help but cheer and join the crowd that wants each and every of these merciless dacoits to not only die but to suffer in extreme agony before they do. As the trained NSG commando, Lakshya is both believable and impactful. The sheer intensity of his rage and the control of his body language as he lands the punches, is what makes this movie. Raghav Juyal, popularly known as Crockroaxz, from many dance-reality TV shows, is absolutely brilliant as the main bad guy, who we want desperately to get tortured and murdered. The supporting cast do a great job as well to serve as the background against which to enjoy the meaningfulness of the action, with Tanya Maniktala, as Tulika, Rathod’s girlfriend, Ashish Vidyarthi, as the paternal leader of the dacoits pack, and Abhishek Chauhan, as Viresh, Rathod’s best friend.

Even as we relish every head getting smashed, every neck getting sliced, every chest getting pierced, and even a face getting set on fire, we cant help wonder and even feel shocked at our own anger and at the deep-seated violence within us, that is making us enjoy this blood and gore. While at one level it connects us with one of our basest animal instinct of fight (over flight), at another level it gives us a moment of release amidst our bottled-up privileged city lives. And that’s why it’s no wonder that it’s a Karan Johar production. It is meant for us, city-dwellers, living far away from the reality of dacoits and hinterland, far enough to enjoy it as entertainment and not reality. It’s also mildly disturbing to think that in an extremely unequal society of ours, this film celebrates the violence that a relatively upper income side of society (Rathod and his rich and politically connected girlfriend’s family) inflicts on the poorer section of society (the dacoits from Bihar). Yes, the bad guys deserve what they get. But, one can’t help wonder the subtle positioning of who’ s good and who’ s bad. Should we be worried of an emerging trend or narrative of the rich feeling like victims?

Nevertheless, the one hour forty-five minutes on this train to Delhi is literally a ride that is worth every minute. A non-stop no-breather full on power packed experience that we haven’t had in a very long time. Kill, is one of the finest that modern Bollywood can offer and a shot in the arm for an other wise lack-lustre identity crisis that the industry is having. I really hope there is a sequence to Kill (like John Wick and Kill Bill) where the fights get bigger, better, bolder. More power to you Nikhil Nagesh Bhat.