Oscar-tipped Ralph Fiennes has said there's no denying "the political moving" in upcoming papal election potboiler, Conclave, and admits people will no doubt "make comparisons with the politics going on".
The upcoming movie, which was released in the United States two weeks before the presidential election and is out in Ireland on 29 November, is based on Robert Harris' 2016 novel which follows Cardinal Lawrence (played by Fiennes) who is tasked with the ancient process of selecting the next Pope when he ends up uncovering shocking truths about the potential candidates.
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"I always thought it was like a religious thriller. It's a political thriller involving the Catholic church, but, the politics are there and they are read in tooth and claw," he said.
The 61-year-old said that regardless of the cardinals' elite status, the pulpy thriller looks at flawed human beings battling with their own egos and power struggles.
"Despite the fact that they are cardinals - or men of the cloth - the political moving and jockeying is very present," he said.
Joining Fiennes in Conclave is a stellar supporting cast including Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati, Brían F O'Byrne, Carlos Diehz, Merab Ninidze, Thomas Loibl and Sergio Castellitto.
The highly-anticipated movie is based on book by Robert Harris and with a screenplay by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), and is directed by Edward Berger, the acclaimed German-Austrian film-maker whose 2022 adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front was nominated for nine Academy Awards.
Conclave hits cinemas nationwide on 29 November.
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