Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.
The Two Popes is elevated almost entirely by its two lead performances — Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce deliver rich, nuanced work that transforms what could be a stagey dialogue piece into something genuinely compelling. The film's central conceit of imagining extended conversations between Benedict and Bergoglio is engaging but remains fundamentally a two-hander chamber piece with limited cinematic ambition. Cinematography is competent and makes good use of Vatican locations without being particularly distinctive. The plot, based on real events, offers some dramatic tension but its structure — essentially a long philosophical debate interrupted by flashbacks — can feel thin and theatrical rather than truly cinematic. Novelty is moderate; the premise is distinctive enough but the execution follows a fairly familiar 'clash of worldviews' format. The ending resolves gracefully but without major dramatic impact, leaving audiences satisfied rather than moved.