Conclave (2024) is a political thriller directed by Edward Berger, based on Robert Harris’ 2016 novel of the same name. The film stars Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who is given the responsibility of overseeing a papal conclave after the death of the Pope. As the cardinals gather inside the Vatican to elect a successor, Lawrence uncovers secrets, rivalries and hidden scandals that could change the future of the Catholic Church. Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto and Isabella Rossellini appear in key roles, while Peter Straughan’s screenplay turns the closed ritual of a papal election into a tense chamber drama about faith, ambition, power and institutional secrecy. The film is deliberately restrained in its setting, but uses that confinement to build pressure around every vote, conversation and private revelation.
Conclave is set almost entirely inside the Vatican, but the production was not filmed inside the Vatican itself. Instead, the film was made in Rome and at Cinecittà Studios, where major sets were built to recreate restricted spaces such as the Sistine Chapel and the Casa Santa Marta residence used by the cardinals during the conclave. The Royal Palace of Caserta, outside Naples, was used for Vatican interiors, including its grand staircases and ceremonial rooms, giving the film much of its monumental architectural scale. Additional Rome locations include Villa Medici, used for Vatican garden material, Santo Spirito in Sassia for the cardinals’ arrival, and the Museo della Civiltà Romana and Palazzo dei Congressi in the EUR district for institutional spaces connected to the conclave. This gives Conclave a carefully constructed location identity: the story belongs to the Vatican, but the film’s visual world is assembled from studio recreations, Roman architecture and palace interiors that together create a sealed, formal and almost labyrinthine version of church power.
Royal Palace of Caserta
Royal Palace of Caserta has appeared in Star Wars – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars – Attack of the Clones, Mission: Impossible III, and many more.
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