It is rare for art to imitate life quite so literally as Conclave does in the wake of the death of Pope Francis.

The papal drama, which is based on Robert Harris’s book of the same name and directed by Edward Berger, is a fictional take on the closed-door process of appointing a new pontiff, known as a conclave, which is set to begin for real in the Vatican on 5 May.

Cardinals from across the world – depicted in the 2024 film by stars including Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci – will descend on Rome, where they will be cut off from the outside world until a new pope is chosen.

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As with anything given the Hollywood treatment, some elements of the film were added for dramatic effect. The biggest twists (don’t worry, you are safe from major spoilers) were read by some as anti-Catholic propaganda.

But on the whole, Conclave – which took home four BAFTA Awards, including best film, and best adapted screenplay at the Oscars – now feels bizarrely prescient, having been released months before cardinals first became concerned for Pope Francis‘s health.

So how accurately does it depict the highly secretive conclave process?

The basics

On the basics, the film does an accurate job of depicting what we know an actual conclave involves.

Cardinals are seen living, eating and socialising together at a version of the purpose-built Casa Santa Marta, a guesthouse on the grounds of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City, which is what will happen at the beginning of next month.

The film also shows the Sistine Chapel – the famous Vatican hall decorated with the works of Michelangelo – being swept for listening devices before the start of the highly classified morning and evening voting sessions, where cardinals write down the name of the person they wish to become pope.

Berger’s thriller also accurately depicts cardinals putting their votes inside a sealed container – which in real life is a silver urn. Once all votes have been cast, a Vatican dignitary reads the votes aloud.

If a two-thirds majority has not been reached, the votes are threaded together and burnt with an additive to produce black smoke, only showing white smoke when enough cardinals agree on a candidate to take over the papacy – details also true to the real process.

Internal politics

The film shows clear factions within the group of voting cardinals, with some clearly backing particular candidates more than others, largely depending on their beliefs.

Cardinal Aldo Bellini (played by Tucci) is depicted as the leading liberal candidate, who seeks to reform the church and follow in the footsteps of the late pope. Whereas Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco (played by Sergio Castellitto) is an Italian who represents the church’s conservative wing.

It is true that every pope will have their own beliefs, some of which are seen as more liberal or conservative than others. Pope Francis in fact diverged from his predecessors on many contentious issues within the Church.

He more openly embraced LGBTQ individuals (although stopped short of full acceptance), decried climate change, and called publicly for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Speaking to Sky News’ Katie Spencer in February after the film’s release, Fiennes said it is “human” how the cardinals are seen positioning themselves for the top role.

“They’re full of pride, ambition, things they’ve kept hidden and I think that’s what’s great [is this film] is not cynical and that’s what drew me to it.”

But Bill Cavanaugh, a professor of Catholic Studies at DePaul University, told The Guardian that the politicisation of the process in the film is likely “a little bit exaggerated”.

He said cardinals do not often fall “neatly into progressive and conservative camps”.

The character of Cardinal Lawrence

Central to the film is Fiennes’ character Cardinal Lawrence, a key dignitary within the Vatican who is tasked with overseeing the fictional conclave.

Cardinal Lawrence is depicted in the film, at times, as fulfilling the roles of both the camerlengo, the person who traditionally takes over the Holy See – the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City – after the death of a pope, and the dean of the College of Cardinals.

But in reality these are two separate roles.

After Pope Francis’s death on Monday, Irish-born American Cardinal Kevin Farrell took over the Holy See as camerlengo. The traditional role involves helping to organise the conclave but also includes announcing the pope’s death, sealing the papal apartment and breaking the pontiff’s fisherman’s ring – a sign that there is a vacancy in the Vatican.

Cardinal Farrell will also play a key role in the pope’s funeral, which will take place in Rome on 26 April.

This differs from the dean of the College of Cardinals, who is seen as the “first among equals” – essentially the head of the body of cardinals who elect the new pontiff.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re has been in the position since 2020 and will now preside over the general congregation meetings, the gathering of the cardinals currently in Rome, which finalises the details of the pontiff’s funeral and upcoming conclave.

Once a new pontiff is chosen, Cardinal Battista will also be the person to accept the election and ask the newest pope what name he will take.

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A secret cardinal

One of the film’s main characters, Cardinal Vincent Benitez (played by Carlos Diehz), is described as a cardinal in pectore, which refers to the real process of a pope appointing a cardinal in secret.

A pope is entitled to keep the name of the newly elected cardinal secret for various reasons, but they are not officially recognised as a cardinal until their name is known publicly.

Contrary to what the film depicts, cardinals who have only been named in secret cannot take part in a conclave.

A league table of foreign criminals and their offences is set to be published for the first time.

The plans, due to be announced on Tuesday, will reportedly focus on those offenders awaiting deportation from the UK.

The latest data shows there were 19,244 foreign offenders awaiting deportation at the end of 2024, a rise from 17,907 when the Conservatives left office in July and 14,640 at the end of 2022.

Despite more offenders being deported since Labour came to power, the number waiting to be removed from the UK has been growing.

Factors are understood to include the early release of inmates due to prison overcrowding, instability and diplomatic problems in some countries and a backlog of legal cases appealing deportation.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the decision to publish the nationalities of foreign criminals showed Labour had “buckled” under pressure from the Conservatives to disclose the data.

The latest government statistics show there were 10,355 foreign nationals held in custody in England and Wales at the end of 2024, representing 12% of the prison population.

The most common nationalities after British nationals were Albanian (11%), Polish (8%), Romanian (7%), which also represented the top three nationalities who were deported from the UK in 2024, according to Home Office figures.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is understood to have ordered officials to release the details by the end of the year, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The newspaper reported Ms Cooper overruled Home Office officials, who previously claimed it was too difficult to provide quality data on foreign criminals.

A Home Office source said: “Not only are we deporting foreign criminals at a rate never seen when Chris Philp and Robert Jenrick were in charge at the Home Office, but we will also be publishing far more information about that cohort of offenders than the Tories ever did.”

The source added that ministers wanted “to ensure the public is kept better informed about the number of foreign criminals awaiting deportation, where they are from and the crimes they have committed”.

In March, the government announced £5m in funding to deploy staff to 80 jails in England and Wales to speed up the deportation of foreign offenders.

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Foreign nationals sentenced to 12 months or more in prison are subject to automatic deportation, but the home secretary can also remove criminals if their presence in the UK is not considered desirable.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick welcomed the news, saying: “We will finally see the hard reality that mass migration is fuelling crime across our country… Frankly, the public deserved to know this [detail on foreign criminals] long ago.”

Sir Keir Starmer and Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about ending Russia’s “brutal war” on Ukraine in their latest phone call on Easter Monday, as Vladimir Putin said he was open to bilateral talks.

The prime minister and Ukrainian president spoke on Monday afternoon, when Sir Keir “reiterated his iron-clad support for Ukraine“.

A Downing Street spokesperson added that the prime minister “said that the UK supports Ukraine’s calls for Russia to commit to a full ceasefire and that now is the time for Putin to show he is serious about ending his brutal war”.

“They discussed the latest developments on the Coalition of the Willing, and looked forward to further progress towards a just and lasting peace,” the spokesperson added.

Mr Zelenskyy later said on social media that he had a “good and detailed conversation” with the prime minister, and added Ukrainian officials will be in London for talks on ending the war with Russia on Wednesday.

“We are ready to move forward as constructively as possible, just as we have done before, to achieve an unconditional ceasefire, followed by the establishment of a real and lasting peace,” he added.

The Ukrainian president added that the 30-hour Easter truce, which both Kyiv and Moscow accuse the other of violating, showed that Russia “are prolonging the war”.

It comes as Mr Putin proposed bilateral talks with Ukraine on a longer ceasefire, which would mark the first time Russia held such talks since a failed peace deal soon after the invasion in 2022.

Speaking to a state TV reporter, the Russian president said: “We always have a positive attitude towards a truce, which is why we came up with such an initiative (the Easter truce), especially since we are talking about the bright Easter days.”

When asked about Mr Zelenskyy’s calls to extend the 30-hour ceasefire into a 30-day pause on civilian targets, he added: “This is all a subject for careful study, perhaps even bilaterally. We do not rule this out.”

The Ukrainian president said on Sunday evening that the Russian army had “violated Putin’s ceasefire more than 2,000 times” during the day, and accused Russia of “failing” to “uphold its own promise of a ceasefire”.

It also comes after Donald Trump has said he hopes Russia and Ukraine “will make a deal this week,” after he and his secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that the US will walk away from efforts to broker a peace deal unless there are clear signs of progress soon.

The US president said on his Truth Social platform that both countries would “start to do big business” with the US after ending the war.

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Last month, Ukraine accepted Mr Trump’s proposal for a 30-day truce, but Mr Putin refused to back a full 30-day ceasefire, saying crucial issues of verification had not been sorted out.

He then said he would agree not to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. However, both sides have accused each other of breaking the moratorium on attacks on energy targets and at sea.