Netflix Review - The Two Popes (15)

God always corrects one pope by presenting the world with another pope... I'd like to see my correction.

The Gist: In 2005 Joseph Ratzinger is elected as pope (papal name Benedict XVI), the position having been contested by - among others - the liberal-leaning Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The latter returns to his post as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, but becomes steadily more disenchanted with a conservative church plagued with revelations of financial corruption and the cover-up of child abuse. In 2012 he visits Pope Benedict in the Vatican to tender his resignation. What begins as a terse encounter between two men of vastly differing viewpoints, transforms into a fascinating dialogue - one that tussles with the role of faith in the world, both men's pasts and an entire church's future. It also leads to a surprising proposition for the man who will become Pope Francis.

The Juice: The central premise of this film may suggest dry theological conversations in Vatican ante-chambers, but this is a passion project by one Fernando Mereilles, the man who brought us searing Brazilian crime epic City of God. While it is more than anything a two-man chamber piece, the movie is never anything less than fully cinematic. Razor-sharp editing conveys the drama of the 2005 papal election in all its arcane intricacy, a soaring camera captures both the Vatican City's glories and the urban landscapes of Brazil and Bergoglio's flashbacks to young man's days is caught in the boxy black and white framing of the era. While Juan Minujin is convincingly conflicted as the young Bergoglio, however, this is all about two Oscar-nominated performances and how observantly the director captures them. Jonathan Pryce provides the through-line as the future Pope Francis - gentle-spirited, but with an undercurrent of liberal zeal. Anthony Hopkins meanwhile takes an ailing and curmudgeonly older Pope and invests him with nuance and humanity. They're an absorbing double-act, particularly when they open up about past failings (Bergoglio has one particularly painful confession to make about his response to Brazil's political past), and both prove worthy of those awards nods in a fascinating central dialogue.

The Judgement: 7.5/10. For some this will understandably not delve deep enough into the scandals which prompted Benedict XVI to stand down. It's also debatable whether the script does enough to convince regarding the ideological chasm that's bridged between the two. (Writer Anthony McCarten can only guess at what passed between the two and argualby makes it too easy.) But as stories of unlikely friendships are concerned, this is involving and charming in equal measure - due to Mereilles' consistently sharp direction and a central dynamic with the kind of understated power you'd hope for and expect. The soundtrack is moving and magnificent too. In dramatic terms at least you'll come away from both The Two Popes feeling thoroughly blessed.