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Movies that feel like Conclave (2024)

If you loved Conclave, the closest films we have are The Manchurian Candidate (1962), The Little Things (2021) and The Pope's Exorcist (2023). All three share Conclave's tense and paranoid feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 11 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu and others, checked against today's data.

After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders until the process is complete, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could lead to its downfall.

🍅 93% Rotten Tomatoes7.4 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Edward Bergercontemplativetenseparanoid

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If Conclave hit the spot, these will too

The Manchurian Candidate poster
The Manchurian Candidate
1962 · dir. John Frankenheimer
🍅 96%7.9thriller · drama

Common ground: election

The difference: 62 years apart, and the 1960s show

Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.

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The Little Things poster
The Little Things
2021 · dir. John Lee Hancock
🍅 44%6.3drama · crime · thriller

Contemplative and tense in the same breath

The difference: Critics were much harder on this one

Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter to search for a serial killer who's terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke's past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.

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The Pope's Exorcist poster
The Pope's Exorcist
2023 · dir. Julius Avery
🍅 50%6.1horror · thriller

The same two preoccupations: vatican (holy see), and pope

The difference: None of the stillness Conclave is built on

Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican, investigates a young boy's terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.

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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit poster
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
2014 · dir. Kenneth Branagh
🍅 55%6.2action · drama · thriller

Paranoid drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Leans harder into action than Conclave does

Jack Ryan, as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.

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The Lincoln Lawyer poster
The Lincoln Lawyer
2011 · dir. Brad Furman
🍅 83%7.3crime · drama · thriller

Thriller built on stillness, twice over

The difference: Sits closer to crime than Conclave does

Mick Haller is a charismatic defense attorney who does business out of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Mick spends most of his time defending petty crooks and other bottom-feeders, so it comes as quite a surprise when he lands the case of a lifetime: defending a Beverly Hills playboy who is accused of attempted murder. However, what Mick initially thinks is an open-and-shut case with a big monetary reward develops into something more sinister.

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The Two Popes poster
The Two Popes
2019 · dir. Fernando Meirelles
🍅 89%7.6drama · history

Both are working the same pair: roman catholic church, catholicism

The difference: Not nearly as tense as Conclave

Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. 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.

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White House Down poster
White House Down
2013 · dir. Roland Emmerich
🍅 52%6.3action · drama · thriller

Drama with a pulse of tension, in both cases

Capitol Policeman John Cale has just been denied his dream job with the Secret Service protecting President James Sawyer. Not wanting to let down his little girl with the news, he takes her on a tour of the White House, when the complex is overtaken by a heavily armed paramilitary group. Now, with the nation's government falling into chaos and time running out, it's up to Cale to save the president, his daughter, and the country.

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Shooter poster
Shooter
2007 · dir. Antoine Fuqua
🍅 47%7.2drama · action · thriller

Both lean on paranoia more than on thriller

A top Marine sniper, Bob Lee Swagger, leaves the military after a mission goes horribly awry and disappears, living in seclusion. He is coaxed back into service after a high-profile government official convinces him to help thwart a plot to kill the President of the United States. Ultimately double-crossed and framed for the attempt, Swagger becomes the target of a nationwide manhunt. He goes on the run to track the real killer and find out who exactly set him up, and why, eventually seeking revenge against some of the most powerful and corrupt leaders in the free world.

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Exterritorial poster
Exterritorial
2025 · dir. Christian Zübert
5.8thriller · action

Tense thriller in both cases

When her son vanishes inside a US consulate, ex-special forces soldier Sara does everything in her power to find him — and uncovers a dark conspiracy.

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Angels & Demons poster
Angels & Demons
2009 · dir. Ron Howard
🍅 36%6.7thriller · mystery

The same preoccupation in both: vatican (holy see)

Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is recruited by the Vatican to investigate the apparent return of the Illuminati – a secret, underground organization – after four cardinals are kidnapped on the night of the papal conclave.

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Enemy of the State poster
Enemy of the State
1998 · dir. Tony Scott
🍅 71%7.3action · drama · thriller

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

When the videotape of the murder of a congressman unknowingly ends up in the hands of labor lawyer and dedicated family man Robert Clayton Dean, he is framed for the murder. With the help of the mysterious Brill, Dean attempts to throw the NSA off his trail and prove his innocence.

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The Circle poster
The Circle
2017 · dir. James Ponsoldt
🍅 16%5.4drama · thriller · science fiction

Both work the same paranoia

A young tech worker takes a job at a powerful Internet corporation, quickly rises up the company's ranks, and soon finds herself in a perilous situation concerning privacy, surveillance and freedom. She comes to learn that her decisions and actions will determine the future of humanity.

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In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Conclave’s defining feeling.