LONDON, United Kingdom (Reuters)

His latest drama is set in the Vatican, but director Edward Berger says Conclave is about people striving for power and it could take place anywhere.

Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci star in the thriller as two cardinals struggling along with the other clergymen to decide who to elect as the next pope.

“It could take place in Washington, DC … (or) in Downing Street … a vacant position … and whenever that power vacuum exists, there’s going to be people striving for it … and stabbing each other in the back and trying to manipulate their way into power,” Berger said in an interview with Reuters.

It’s Fiennes’ character, Cardinal Lawrence, who, as dean of the College of Cardinals, has to oversee proceedings in the conclave and handle the scandals that arise.

The two-time Oscar nominated actor, who was brought up as a Catholic but who says he is not committed to any one faith, said the film also provokes questions about the relevance of the Church and who leads it.

“Who is worthy of this odd but very powerful, unique position of being the leader of the Catholic Church? Who is it that’s got the right qualities?” Fiennes asked.

The handful of favourites who emerge are a mixed bunch with their own secrets and views, ranging from traditional-minded cardinals to Tucci’s progressive Cardinal Bellini.

“It was fascinating to play a man who is so devoted to his faith but still understands the complexity of human behaviour. And the power of the Church and … how powerful that power is if it’s in the wrong hands,” Tucci said.

Based on the novel by British writer Robert Harris, the film’s director, Berger, whose 2022 World War One film All Quiet on the Western Front won four Oscars, said his aim was to “bring the pope down to earth”.

“They (the cardinals) have cellphones, they vape, they smoke. The pope ends up in a plastic body bag in the back of an ambulance,” he said.

“We’re all kind of the same… I wanted to take that spirituality … and make it quite mundane.”

Conclave opens in the UK on today.