How to watch Conclave: Streaming options, cast, filming locations, reception, and how much is true

The film won a cabinet-full of trophies, including four BAFTA awards, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (it was nominated for a further seven trophies).

Directed by Edward Berger, who is one of the favourites to helm the next James Bond film, it’s a twisty treat of a film that keeps audiences guessing until the very end.

Here’s what you need to know.

Where can I watch Conclave?

Conclave is available to buy on DVD and to rent on most streaming platforms. Subscribers to Amazon Prime can watch it for free..

Who is in Conclave?

The main cast of the film is as follows:

• Ralph Fiennes as Thomas Cardinal Lawrence
• Stanley Tucci as Aldo Cardinal Bellini
• John Lithgow as Joseph Cardinal Tremblay
• Sergio Castellitto as Goffredo Cardinal Tedesco
• Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes
• Lucian Msamati as Joshua Cardinal Adeyemi
• Carlos Diehz as Vincent Cardinal Benitez
• Brían F. O'Byrne as Monsignor Raymond O'Malley
• Merab Ninidze as Cardinal Sabbadin
• Thomas Loibl as Archbishop Mandorff
• Jacek Koman as Archbishop Woźniak
• Loris Loddi as Cardinal Villanueva

Was Conclave filmed in the Vatican?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, filming is not allowed in the Vatican, so the filmmakers had to use other locations to make it look like the city state. Most of the filming took place in nearby buildings in Rome, although the Sistine Chapel was re-created on a soundstage and Michelangelo's ceiling is a computer-generated replica.

How much of Conclave is true?

While the story and characters that feature in Conclave are fictional, much of the procedures and traditions depicted are pretty accurate.

The assembled cardinals are sequestered as is shown in the film, with little in the way of contact with the outside world, in order to elect a new Pope.

The way in which they vote is also accurately portrayed in the film, with each cardinal placing his vote into bowl and reciting an oath in Latin. The ballots are then sewn together with a needle and thread, then burned with a chemical to send smoke into the air above the Vatican - black smoke meaning stalemate and white meaning a Pope has been selected.

Where does the story of Conclave come from?

Conclave is based on a best-selling book by English author Robert Harris which was published in 2016. The film stays fairly faithful to the plot.

Harris started out as a journalist before starting to write historical fiction, finding instant success of Fatherland, set in a world where Germany won the Second World War. He’s also written several books set in Ancient Rome.