The Two Popes: Oscar-worthy performances and a powerful message
The Netflix original film The Two Popes starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce is one of the best Netflix movies of the year and an Oscar contender.
I was raised a catholic, attended a catholic school and have probably been to mass more than most people of my acquaintance, though I can’t remember entering a Church (other than for weddings and funerals) since I was old enough to be able to decide.
You’d think that would make me the ideal viewer for The Two Popes, Netflix’s movie starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce as the two living Popes – Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. You’d both be right and wrong.
In a way, it’s easier for me to appreciate what director Fernando Meirelles is trying to do with this movie because I remember the historical events. I remember the death of Pope John Paul II, the election of Pope Benedict XVI and how, even then, Cardinal Bergoglio, the Argentinian, was the favorite of the Church’s reformists.
And then, I remember the shock of a Pope stepping down, of a new election. I remember the hope that this time, things would be different. I remember Pope Francis stepping onto the balcony for the first time, and everyone around me rejoicing.
But if this movie does something well, it’s making sure you don’t have to remember to feel it. You don’t even need to care about the Catholic church, the faith in general or these men in particular. You just basically need to have a heart and an appreciation for a well-told story.
Case in point: I had a friend visiting for the holidays, when I decided to play this movie, someone who doesn’t have my background with the Catholic Church, or my knowledge. She was doing something else, so she didn’t watch the entire thing with me, but after passing by the TV a few times, she finally sat down to watch. Suddenly, in the middle of a very emotional scene, I turned to her to find her wiping her eyes.
Now, that’s powerful storytelling.
It’s not just Meirelles who succeeds with a vision for the Church we – believers or not – would all hope for, but the actors, in particular, who turn a dialogue-heavy film into something not just interesting but engaging. Hopkins is his usual brilliant self, but it’s Pryce, in my opinion, who deserves all the accolades (and awards) for his transformation into Pope Francis, someone who is in the news every day.
There was never a time where I looked into the screen and thought, well, this is an actor playing the Pope. Instead, at every turn, I felt like I was watching the real Pope speaking to me, explaining the real issues facing the institution of the Church, asking the same questions people looking from the outside were at that point in time, and even exhibiting the same doubts.
I never expected The Two Popes to be about two people with vastly different ways of seeing the world but with shared beliefs in the reason why the world turns in the first place, finding common ground. And I certainly didn’t expect it to be about how even the man at the head of the Catholic Church got to where he is right now by making mistake after mistake and having the humility to learn from them.
The movie succeeds because of this message, one that, in many ways, goes against what the Church has been preaching for many years. Perhaps they, like Meirelles, have realized that nothing remains static, not even beliefs.
Perhaps, that’s just a bit of my faith, leaking through.
Either way, The Two Popes is a surprisingly good movie, with two otherworldly performances that are sure to get some well-deserved love this awards season. Don’t let the idea that you have to care – or even like – the Catholic Church keep you from it.
Some stories are universal, no matter the actors. No matter the setting.
The Two Popes is available to stream on Netflix.