Megyn Slams ‘Conclave’ Movie as ‘Anti-Catholic’ and Calls Out Religious Hypocrisy in Hollywood

I didn’t tweet a lot while I was on my vacation because I wanted to spend my time with my family, but I did send a tweet out Sunday night because I made the mistake of watching the movie Conclave, which was nominated for a few awards at the Golden Globes.

I blame my husband Doug, who suggested we check it out. To be fair, it was billed as a thriller involving the Vatican and the process of selecting a new pope. That sounded kind of interesting. I love thrillers, and I thought maybe there would be, like, a murder and you have to figure out who done it or whatever. In no world could I have imagined what actually happened.

Spoiler Alert

Yes, I am about to offer the major spoiler of this movie and I hope you don’t care because I hope you don’t watch it. In no world did I predict that the ‘big’ twist was they would elect a new pope who is intersex. The person is purportedly a man but has female reproductive organs. That is the big twist at the end. 

But that is not all. Along the way, every single cardinal you meet in the Catholic Church is disgusting, except for the one liberal guy from America (played by Stanley Tucci) who is pushing for a bigger role for women in the church. But even he turns out to be pretty craven. 

They are all gross. And in the end, the only one who has any virtue is the one who is secretly a woman and also maybe Ralph Fiennes, who plays the cardinal shepherding the process and allows said intersex person to become pope without telling anybody.

The Screenwriter Responds

As I tweeted out, the film – which is based on the 2016 novel of the same name – is disgusting, it is anti-Catholic, and I was repulsed by what I saw. 

My take apparently led a reporter to ask the screenwriter, Peter Straughan, about my criticism after he took home the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay on Sunday. He rejected my claim, telling Variety:

“I don’t think the film is anti-Catholic. I was brought up Catholic. I was an altar boy. I think the core message of ‘Conclave’ is about the church always having to re-find its spiritual core because it deals so much with power. That’s always been a careful, difficult balance. To me, that was a very central Catholic ideal that I was brought up with. I stand by it.”

I don’t believe that at all. It is not about the church having to “re-find” its spiritual core. It was an attempt to embarrass and humiliate Catholics. I understand that the Catholic Church has had its problems, but I am sick of this bullsh-t because they always do this. If you look at all the times Hollywood has mocked, smeared, and belittled religions, Catholics and Christians would be at the very, very top. There is not a second close contender.

It is reflected in the reviews of the movie. Variety’s Peter Debruge called the storyline “one of the most satisfying twists in years, a Hail Mary that both surprises and restores one’s faith (maybe not everyone’s, but certainly that of the disillusioned).” Vulture’s film critic referred to it as “sinfully entertaining.” 

They love to see the Catholics humiliated, yet a film like this would never, ever be made about Islam or Muslims.

The Net-Net

If you are considering watching Conclave, don’t bother. Like I have said before, I have a very high threshold for offense. It is really hard to offend me. I guess I didn’t feel deeply offended by this, but I was unsettled by what I saw. And I was pissed. I think I am just sick of the Christian and Catholic bashing by Hollywood. It is one of the other reasons why I can’t stand that entire industry.

You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 976 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.