We didn't expect the white-knuckle thriller of the year would be about a bunch of old guys arguing, but Conclave is just that. When the beloved long-reigning Pope passes away it triggers a papal conclave, in which cardinals from all over the world are sequestered in the Vatican City to elect a new leader of the Catholic church. Overseeing the highly ritualised proceedings is Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), a close confidant of the former pontiff tasked with co-ordinating a secretive ballot held four times a day in the Sistine Chapel, until one cardinal emerges with a triumphant majority. The struggle between arch-conservative and progressive factions unearths devastating secrets, as Lawrence navigates the political machinations of his friends and enemies alike and reckons with his own crisis of faith.

Adapting Robert Harris' pulpy novel of the same name, Berger has assembled a constellation of acclaimed character actors (including the one and only Stanley Tucci, a fascinating Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow going absolutely ham) orbiting around Ralph Fiennes, killing it in his own inimitable style as a conflicted man of god who isn't too sure about the future for His emissaries on earth. Don't let the gorgeous prestige gloss fool you: Conclave is compulsively watchable old-fashioned entertainment delivered with panache, best watched in a theatre to share the experience of these aspirational sequestered clergy as they fight and scheme their way to the top through corruption and betrayal (with occasional breaks to vape).