7 Movies that tells us about the Vatican City

Vatican City has been in the news due to the passing away of the Supreme Pontiff, Pope Francis. In the coming days, the Roman Catholic Church will begin the process, known as the Conclave, to elect Pope Francis’s successor. The process has always been held in secrecy with no outside world’s impact and influence on the College of Cardinals taking part in the election process.

Over the years, several films have given us a glimpse at the workings of Vatican City with their fictional dramatizations and sometimes even been inspired by real-life events. Whether through a fictional tale or a real-life one, we have seen in movies how politics also plays an important role in the Roman Catholic Church. Their involvement or their silence both tend to affect the world order.

In this article, we have listed 7 such movies that depict the inner workings of the Vatican City’s papacy and also the beginning of Michelangelo’s beautiful frescoes on the ceilings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Disclaimer: This article is based on the writer’s opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

7 Movies on the Vatican City

7) We have a Pope

Scene from We Have a Pope | Image via Fandango

After being surprisingly elected as the new Pope, Cardinal Melville hesitantly accepts it but can’t manage to get through with it. As the public emerges to greet the new pope in Vatican City, Melville suffers with anxiety and backs down from appearing in front of the public.

In this lighthearted fictional tale, Melville’s depression pauses all of the work as the Cardinals try to help cure him and also call a psychoanalyst. While he tries to cope with his issues and undergo different treatments, the cardinals, to pass their time, play different types of games inside the Vatican church.

6) Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God

Scene from Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God | Image via Jigsaw Productions

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney directed this 2012 documentary film that brought forth the cases of abuse of power in the church systems.

With the account of four deaf men, the documentary traces the level of s*xual abuse cover-ups that took them to even the Vatican City, other than the US and Irish churches.

5) Angels and Demons

Scenes from Angels and Demons | Image via Columbia Pictures

Based on Dan Brown’s novel, this film features Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon in the Vatican City, who is called to help the Vatican against an impending attack that threatens the conclave.

In a fictional tale of the Vatican under attack, Langdon goes to investigate and discovers a more sinister plan by one of their own officials of the Catholic Church, Ewan McGregor’s Father McKenna, who tries to kill four of the top contenders to become the next Pope.

4) The Scarlet and the Black

John Gielgud in The Scarlet and the Black | Image via ITC Entertainment

This renowned 1983 movie depicts the story of how an Irish-born Vatican Priest helps save the lives of numerous Jews.

After Pope Pius XII is informed by SS officers that Italian Jews who escape from them might come to Vatican City to take refuge and that they will paint a white line around the church to maintain its sovereignty. However, one of the priests, Monsignor O’Flaherty, begins a plan to help the Jews. He plans ways to provide escape routes and safe places for the refugees with the help of several others. Even after trying to capture the group of people helping the refugees, the N*zi Army failed several times.

3) The Two Popes

Jonathan Pryce with Anthony Hopkins in The Two Popes | Image via Rideback

In this biographical tale about the friendship between two Popes, Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis. As they spend time and wander around the Vatican City, we see them resolving the issues that they carry within them.

While showing the two Popes, we are also bestowed with several locations around the Vatican and a full-size reproduction of the interior of the Sistine Chapel.

2) The Agony and the Ecstacy

Scene from The Agony and Ecstacy | Image via International Classics

Vatican City, where the Roman Catholic Church is located, is not only famous for being the home of the Pope but also for the numerous frescoes painted by Michelangelo.

The movie, The Agony and the Ecstasy, which is set in the early 16th century, shows us the relationship and conflicts between Pope Julius II and Michelangelo due to their conception of God. The film also shows how Michelangelo began his work of painting the frescoes on the walls and ceilings of the Sistine Chapel, ending with one of his most popular works, The Last Judgment.

1) Conclave

Ralph Fiennes in Conclave | Image via Indian Paintbrush

Another film about the politics that can arise during the conclave while electing a new Pope. Ralph Fiennes and the whole ensemble cast's compelling performance in this fictional tale of the inner workings and politics inside the Vatican is sure to intrigue the viewers.

While overseeing the process of the election to select the new Pope, Fiennes’s Thomas Lawrence is surrounded by several reports regarding the wrongdoings of the top contenders to become the next Pope. From reports of affairs to corruption, the Vatican was filled with unwanted news, making Lawrence’s job of holding a conclave to elect a Pope difficult.