Contrarian Culture Corner Recommendations

Timely Entertainment and/or Distractions: Conclave and Hacks

Conclave (Stream on Prime Video, also available for rental via Apple TV if you don’t want to give Jeff Bezos your money)

The death of Pope Francis on Monday triggered an immediate and inevitable surge of interest in Conclave, the Oscar-winning film released last fall that lifted the veil on the secretive, centuries-old process of electing a new pope. In a morbid coincidence that even Hollywood’s most cynical marketing executive couldn’t have conjured, the film became available to stream Tuesday on Prime Video.

But Conclave, which is far more entertaining than any movie about the inner workings of a musty institution has the right to be, would be worth watching even without its timely themes. Directed by Edward Berger and adapted from Robert Harris’s novel of the same name, the film opens inside the Vatican minutes after the death of an unnamed pontiff. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), dean of the College of Cardinals, immediately prepares to convene a conclave to elect a successor—a task that involves massaging more egos than an Academy Awards campaign.

Photo: Focus Features

Several contenders quickly emerge: there’s Italian Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), a traditionalist who wants to bring back the Latin mass; Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), an American liberal who definitely doesn’t; Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), a socially conservative Nigerian; and Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), a duplicitous Canadian. The process is upended when the mysterious Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), a Mexican based in Kabul, joins the conclave.

Earning high marks from experts as well as critics for its mesmerizing depiction of elaborate church rituals (you’ll be rapt watching Cardinal Lawrence count those ballots), Conclave treats the Catholic faith with appropriate reverence. Yet it also never pretends any of these characters are anything but deeply human—and thereby deeply flawed. While there are plenty of high-minded conversations about the nature of faith, there’s also enough petty backstabbing and manipulative scheming to fuel an entire season of The Real Housewives (or Succession). At moments, the conclave feels like a particularly intense student council election, down to the cliques in the cafeteria: the Italians sit at one table, the French at another, and so on.

Conclave also offers a fascinating look at the gender divide in the church’s leadership, where the men have all the power (at least officially) and the women are tasked with domestic chores. We see, but don’t hear, the nuns as they meticulously set the table in the cafeteria and prepare delicious meals for their male peers. And while she doesn’t get to chew the scenery quite as much as her male co-stars, Isabella Rossellini is quietly formidable as Sister Agnes, the cardinals’ housekeeper, who doesn’t say much but clearly knows all.

Warning: The film ends with a somewhat controversial twist, so do refrain from Googling while you’re watching—but please feel free to discuss here once you’ve finished!

Photo: Kenny Laubbacher/Max

Hacks (Stream on Max)

Season 4 of the Emmy-winning comedy, which premiered last week, finds comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) infiltrating a male-dominated institution of a very different kind: late-night TV. When last we met this toxic workplace duo, who are constantly falling in and out of platonic love with each other, they were back on each other’s bad side: in a fit of self-doubt, Deborah had passed over Ava for the head writing job on her new late-night show. But Ava, who has learned a thing or two from her boss, threatened to report Deborah for sleeping with Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn), CEO of the media conglomerate that owns the show and—voila—the job is hers.

In Season 4, they are frantically preparing for the show’s launch—trying to hire writers, come up with big ideas for the premiere episode, and sitting for splashy press features. But the hostility between the women is so palpable and disruptive, HR soon has to get involved. Deborah and Ava also face enormous pressure to make Late Night a hit, and intense skepticism about their ability to do so in a changed TV landscape. As Deborah learns, she’s only been given the hosting gig—a job she had wanted for decades—because no one else did. Without ever feeling too preachy or inside baseball, Hacks offers hilarious and sometimes painful insight into the realities of being a woman in showbiz. While it’s still early for predictions about who will be this season’s breakout star, my money is on Robby Hoffman, who plays Randi, a Speed-loving former Hasidic Jew from Crown Heights turned queer, atheist Angeleno who is hired as assistant to Jimmy (Paul Downs) and Kayla (Meg Stalter).

Enjoy, and please let your fellow Contrarians know what entertainment keeps you occupied and engaged this weekend:

Meredith Blake is the Culture Columnist for The Contrarian