Conclave

“I thought we were here to serve God, not the Curia…„ Thomas Lawrence’s character is so dear to me. I genuinely believe he is trying his best and has no ambition to become Pope. If the late Holy Father planned everything (which I won’t elaborate here), he was certainly right to refuse Thomas’ resignation and get him to run the Conclave.  Thomas has a strong sense of justice and I firmly believe in his good intentions. Now, from the book to the movie, he is a really miserable and self-pitying man which can be as pathetic as it is endearing. But Thomas, despite being the one who wants to be there the least, is still trying to make choices that will satisfy everyone. Unfortunately, this is impossible and he will always end up having someone mad at him. Then, when he allows his own anger to pierce through him, it is rarely with his opponents — it will mostly be at himself or at someone whom he trusts : Ray; his trustworthy assistant who’s always at his side, Vincent; the mysterious but sweet new cardinal who seems to have grown fond of him, and Aldo; his longtime friend who’s apparently decided to be a cunt for the entirety of this Conclave. He wants to get out of there, but not before he’s decimated his enemies by sleek and instinctive tactics -though he is simply following his heart- to run them out.  I don’t see this as wanting to take their places as favourites; he is simply trying to get who he believes to be the right man to become Pope. He’s never planned on using sneaky techniques to get to the top, which is what characters like Aldo (who, again, is being a total asshole) or Tremblay seem to think. Characters such as Vincent and Agnes counterbalance that : indeed they are his most precious allies. Though Agnes seems rather reluctant of him at first, she’s definitely the most helpful character in this whole movie. And at the end, it all pays off as the literal angel sent right from Heaven gets elected, proving once again that Thomas’ instinct is a hundred percent trustworthy.  Do I find him woke enough ? Probably not. And do I think Aldo’s anger was understandable when Thomas thought Adeyemi could make a great Pope ? Totally. BUT still he didn’t have to be so mean ! Thomas has great morals he obviously doesn’t want a homophobic bigot as Pope (which directly concerns him). But as Aldo said (AND HE DIDN’T HAVE TO SAY IT LIKE THAT) he is naive and sometimes he just wishes God would do all the work for him (in other words he really believes God will send the right man, no matter who.)  His faith isn’t only in God but in everyone around him ; he will condemn what needs to be condemned while still trying to understand why his brothers and sisters are the way they are, where they come from – this isn’t him being an analyst, this is him being a very empathic human being, who has a lot of feelings and doesn’t know where to put them. He doesn’t know how to talk to God anymore, he doesn’t know how to talk to his dearest friend anymore (yes, again with the Aldo spite) and the Holy Father is dead. He has no one to turn to. In no way is he selfish ; he is only by himself. But no matter how alone, he’ll always be a figure anyone can turn to. He will always be worthy of trust, and a great advisor, and of course a great manager. He will insist on calling everyone by their first name, initiating touch, looking at them with his pitiful wet puppy eyes and all of it is just his raw self.  He has faith in the human kind which is probably what differentiates him the most from Aldo. He is forgiving to everyone but himself. He is gentle but knows when the truth needs to be spoken. I do believe the scene where he confronts Adeyemi is the best summary for his character ; he is firm but understanding, and willing to put his own problems with prayer aside to be a shoulder for Adeyemi to cry on.  ANYWAY next review will be his autism diagnosis #staytuned #neverkillyourself