In the captivating new thriller mystery “Conclave,” acclaimed actor Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Lawrence, who presides over the process of selecting a new pope when the current pope suddenly passes away. The film, directed by Edward Berger, reveals an intriguing plot surrounding the conclave, which is a process hidden away from the public and outside news.

Cardinal Lawrence, taking on a task he never wanted, puts his energies into being fair and charitable, all the while questioning his own abilities. In a recent interview with Beliefnet, Berger, who won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film for “All Quiet on the Western Front,” and two-time acting nominee Fiennes discuss the visuals, cinematography, and mindset of Fienne’s character, Cardinal Lawrence.

Ralph, I write a lot about faith, and so I was really drawn to Cardinal Lawrence. Just watching that movie, I want to watch it again, because even in the beginning, when he cries, I’m thinking there’s more to that than just missing his friend. His whole plan is kind of shattering of what he was going to do. He also struggles with his faith. So, can you talk a little bit about the complexity of this man?

Ralph Fiennes: Well, I was drawn very much to the fact that I think he is in crisis. He says, as you mentioned, “I have struggled with prayer. I was thinking of maybe going into a monastery,” I think or at least leaving the environment of the Vatican, I always felt instinctively that he was a man who would want to lead a more contemplative life, and that the bureaucracy of the Vatican was somehow antithetical to that. Suddenly, he’s in the position of making sure the Conclave proceeds the due process properly, and ethically, and he takes the service very seriously, and then, of course, encounters all these issues, various cardinals, and is then suddenly troubleshooting all kinds of stuff he probably would rather wish he didn’t have to troubleshoot.

I think I always imagined that the Pope, saw him as a manager, not as a shepherd. I think that he can’t have the conversation now, but yeah, he obviously has some managerial skills. I was very good at talking to people and organizing people, but he’s left behind the part of his life that might be spent in a more contemplative mode, and the Pope hasn’t quite seen him. So, there’s a kind of tragedy that he had a difficult conversation with the Holy Father, and it hasn’t been resolved. So, when he’s dead, there’s a sort of grief that I haven’t resolved, certain issues, and also grief about I’m a bit lost. Who do I talk to? I’m lost.

(Please note: Spoilers about the end of the film are discussed in the following paragraph)

I think in life, if we have confusion and contradictions, who do we talk to? And I felt there was a pain there. And I loved how the film takes him. He troubleshoots. He has to confront all these various issues. And I always was moved by, first of all, he recognizes when Benitez is elected, he recognizes the spiritual worth of Benitez, and then even when he hears more information about him, I love the scene Edward creates with him. I just put the turtle back in the pond, and I hear the roar of approval of the crowd as the white smoke and we see that sense of recognition that we’ve found the right leader in that move,

And through his weakness, through his basic insecurity, he still has fulfilled the role that he feels like God had for him to do.

Ralph Fiennes: That’s right, exactly right.

There are so many beautiful shots in this movie. Edward, you read the screenplay, did these scenes just kind of pop in your head, thinking “This would be a beautiful location?” For instance, I love the use of color. Can you talk a little bit about how those shots came to you?

Edward Berger: I think it’s a process. You start scouting locations. You start getting inspired by the actors who will be in it. You start getting inspired by your colleagues who work with you, by photographs that I suddenly discover, by paintings that I see in the locations paintings of cardinals from hundreds of years of cardinals. You walk around Rome, you’re going to visit locations where they have 50 paintings of cardinals over the last 400 years and you look at the red of the robes, and you think, “Wouldn’t it be great to capture this color?” So it’s a slow process. It gets to you, and hopefully, it builds to a puzzle piece that is coherent in the end.

“Conclave,” directed by Edward Berger and starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini, was released Oct. 25 from Focus Features.

DEWAYNE HAMBY has covered faith-based music, movies, television, books, and the retail industry for more than 30 years. He is a film member of the Critics Choice Association and the author of the book Gratitude Adjustment. Connect with him at on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or InstaGram.