The Two Popes - Stream It or Skip It

The Two Popes is now streaming on Netflix.

On the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, the Catholic Church found itself at a crossroads, the need for modernisation clashing with the continued conservatism of John Paul’s legacy. Fernando Meirelles’s beautiful adaptation of Anthony McCarten’s screenplay explores the largely unknown story of the men who would vie to succeed John Paul. A two-person play, The Two Popes shines in the hands of Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, with both actors bringing their characters to life under Meirelles’s delicate and assured direction.

As John Paul’s legacy as Pope haunts the search for his replacement, two men sit at the heart of the future direction of the Catholic Church: the staunchly conservative Joseph Ratzinger (Hopkins) and the more liberal Jorge Bergoglio (Pryce). Despite a close-run contest, Ratzinger wins the required number of votes, a decision that Bergoglio struggles with, despite his fear of the challenges he would have faced in modernising the Papal throne.

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With the church bouncing from one controversy to the next, Bergoglio writes to Pope Benedict XVI asking for permission to retire, only to be invited to the Papal home to discuss his views and opinions on the church’s future. Both men butt heads in a tangle of disagreement, religious discussion and social debate. However, as time passes, they find solace in each other, their disputes laced with a crisis of faith and a need for change and reconciliation.

Anthony McCarten’s screenplay creates moments of pure beauty as both men find peace and serenity in each other’s arms. Hope, fragility, and faith sit centre stage as disagreement becomes an unlikely friendship. Meanwhile, Fernando Meirelles brings a documentary-like focus, allowing his actors to take control of the narrative while playing with sound, music, light, and humour to accentuate their differences and similarities. Whether you are a firm believer, agnostic or atheist, The Two Popes speaks to our need to find solace and meaning in the arms of another, and that’s a message we can all buy into.