The Two Popes (2019)

Behind Vatican walls, the conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the liberal future Pope Francis must find common ground to forge a new path for the Catholic Church.

Director:

Fernando Meirelles

Writer:

Anthony McCarten

Stars:

Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce, Juan Minujín

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 49 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Hopkins	...	Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict
Jonathan Pryce	...	Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio / Pope Francis
Juan Minujín	...	Younger Jorge Bergoglio
Luis Gnecco	...	Cardinal Hummes
Cristina Banegas	...	Lisabetta
María Ucedo	...	Esther Ballestrino
Renato Scarpa	...	Camerlengo
Sidney Cole	...	Cardinal Turkson
Achille Brugnini	...	Cardinal Martini
Federico Torre	...	Protodeacon Estevez
Germán de Silva	...	Father Yorio
Lisandro Fiks	...	Father Jalics
Libero De Rienzo	...	Roberto
Willie Jonah	...	Cardinal Arinze
Sofia Cessak	...	Amalia Damonte (as Sofia Mayra Cessak)

Storyline

An intimate story of one of the most dramatic transitions of power in the last 2,000 years. Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins). 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. Behind Vatican walls, a struggle commences between both tradition and progress, guilt and forgiveness, as these two very different men confront their pasts in order to find common ground and forge a future for a billion followers around the world. Inspired by true events.

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Plot Keywords:

pope | cardinal the priest | priest | catholic church | catholic priest | 

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Taglines:

Inspired by true events.

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Genres:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic content and some disturbing violent images.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Netflix

Country:

UK Italy

Language:

English Spanish Italian Latin Portuguese French German

Release Date:

20 December 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Two Popes

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$243,711

Company Credits

Production Co:

Netflix

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jonathan Pryce also played an Argentine in Evita (1996), where he played the role of General Juan Domingo Perón.

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Goofs

The movie implies that Bergoglio had a fiancée and almost got married. This is fake news. Amalia, the girl shown in the movie, is real-life Amalia Damante who grew up in Bergoglio's neighborhood and they often went to school together. In the book "Francis. The real story of his life" Damante explains that their so called "romance" is based on a love letter that Jorge Bergoglio wrote when he was 12 years old. In the book Damante says: "The media made me the pope's fiancée which is not true. We were 12 years old at this time and good friends, that's all."

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Quotes

Pope Francis: Where was Christ in all this? Was he taking tea in the presidential palace? Or was he being tortured in prisons, with Yorio and Jalics?

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Crazy Credits

There's a brief shot after the end credits.

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Connections

Featured in The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Jennifer Hudson/Jonathan Pryce/Sharon Van Etten feat. Norah Jones (2019)

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Soundtracks

Dancing Queen
Written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson
Performed by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Performed by Jonathan Pryce (uncredited)

User Reviews

Pleasantly surprised

I just watched this at TIFF, and thought it was a very charming film. The performances by Pryce and Hopkins were exceptional - very humorous, and the subtleties of there characters made for a fascinating chemistry. Highly recommended!