The world of politics can be a volatile one, as politicians battle it out for seats of power. But one of the most powerful seats on the planet can’t be won by a politician, although the process to earn it is most certainly political, and that is to be the head of the Catholic Church.

Director Edward Berger’s follow up to his excellent, Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front is a surprisingly tense look at the process behind electing a new Pope.

The Pope is dead and there’s little time for mourning. A successor needs to be appointed with great haste, as the College of Cardinals have to gather to make the decision.

Put in charge of making sure it all goes smoothly is Cardinal-Dean Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes). It’s not as easy as you might think, as there are a number of candidates who see themselves as the best successor to the papal throne, and are more than happy to campaign for themselves amongst their peers for the position.

But as the conclave continues, with all the Cardinals in seclusion within the Vatican until a decision is made, Lawrence soon becomes aware of a few skeletons in the cupboards of those front runners.

Now Lawrence, who has been nominated himself for the position despite wanting to step down from his current role due to struggles with his own faith, finds himself having to investigate the candidates and these new allegations surrounding them as he attempts to make sure the right Cardinal gets the highest position in the Catholic church.

Based on the 2016 novel of the same name by British writer Robert Harris, Berger’s film is a quietly intense examination of the making of a pope. There are gentle echoes of 1986’s In the Name of the Rose, which saw Sean Connery play a Franciscan Friar having to solve a murder within his medieval abbey; there may not be murder afoot, but Fiennes’ Lawrence finds himself in a similar scenario when confronted with dishonourable attentions of many of his ‘honourable’ peers who want the most coveted of jobs.

It’s elegantly shot by Berger, as his Lawrence starts pulling at the papal thread only to become alarmed by what he discovers.

He also gets some strong performances from his male-heavy cast; of course Fiennes is in phenomenal form as the Cardinal in charge despite his conflicting emotions, but he is ably supported by the likes of Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and sole female Isabella Rossellini, who all help make this such an absorbing drama.

And it’s certainly down to the talent of Berger who essentially treats it like a whodunit – there is a corpse, and a number of suspicious characters, only they’re not guilty of murdering him, only of going to ungodly lengths to succeed him.

Not only does the film beautifully clarify the entire process of choosing a pope, it does so with undeniable flair and style, with an undercurrent of intrigue that makes it quite the religious experience.