ROME (AP) — With Pope Francis just weeks away from his 88th birthday, plans for his successor at the Vatican are in full swing.

How topical then, that on the other side of the city, in Rome, ‘ Conclave A thriller filled with conniving, manipulative cardinals, who are quick to throw morality out the window as they promote their candidate, is a top draw at the Rome Film Festival.

This may be a little too close – literally and figuratively – for Pope Francis.

Austrian-Swiss director Edward Berger, who directed ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ (2022), adapted the film from Robert Harris’ 2016 novel ‘Conclave’. Berger casts an extraordinary Ralph Fiennes in the role of Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, dean of the College of Cardinals responsible for organizing the conclave.

The conclave is the age-old tradition in which cardinals gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel upon the death of a pope to participate in voting rounds until they elect a new pope. Conclave comes from the Latin ‘cum clave’, meaning ‘with a key’, to indicate that the cardinals are locked up until they elect the new leader for the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

The whole process is carried out under the spectacular frescoed ceiling painted by Michelangelo, and his masterpiece ‘The Last Judgment’, which depicts the fate of men going to heaven or hell, covers the wall behind the altar. Throughout the process, the prelates are cut off from communication with the outside world and must live in seclusion in the Vatican.

Conclaves have a reputation for being a competition without limits, as cardinals make backroom deals to choose their favorites in secret ballots.

At the end of each voting round, the ballots are thrown into a specially built stove in the Sistine Chapel, to which a chemical has been added that will color the smoke.

The tens of thousands of people who have gathered in St. Peter’s Square awaiting the results will know from the smoke coming from the chimney whether or not a new pope has been elected. Black means that the cardinals have not yet elected a pope, white means that a new pope has been elected.

In ” Conclave Stanley Tucci plays Aldo Bellini, a progressive American cardinal who battles the powerful conservative Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco played by Sergio Castellitto and Canadian Cardinal Joseph Tremblay played by John Lithgow. Nigerian Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi, played by Lucian Msamati, could be the first black pope, but his homophobic views clash with progressives.

Although women remain excluded from the conclave and the highest levels of power in the Vatican, they provide assistance in fulfilling modest duties serving the cardinals during the conclave period. Isabella Rossellini plays a nun who surprises in her role as a silent observer who doesn’t miss a trick.

Although it is a thriller, the film often comes close to the real workings and current debates in the Vatican. As the film’s stars strolled down the red carpet, some wondered how the film would be viewed in the Vatican.

“It’s intriguing. Are they sitting there in the Vatican watching the coverage of ‘Conclave’?” said actor Fiennes. “I’m sure there are a few people in the Vatican who would be curious about what the film says.”

Despite his age and serious health problems, including a bad knee that forced him to use a wheelchair, Pope Francis shows no sign of slowing down. In August, he made his longest and most challenging journey yet, traveling by plane to four countries in the Asia-Pacific. This month he chaired the synod, a three-week meeting of more than 360 bishops and laity to discuss the future of the church.

But Francis is not immortal. Discussions about who could be his successor have already begun, but it remains to be seen whether the next real conclave will be as exciting as the movie.