Vice President and sentient gravy stain JD Vance was jokingly credited with the death of Pope Francis in April, as evidenced by numerous memes and comedic riffs still circulating. It’s a rash indictment; in pop culture’s haste to identify Francis’ killer, the possibly fatal prescience of Edward Berger’s " Conclave ," a film about the nuts, bolts and holy smokes involved in the election of a new pope, was overlooked. Did Vance’s handshake send Francis to the hereafter, or Berger’s creative hubris?

It’s the plain old unsexy truth that a cerebral stroke and subsequent cardiac arrest killed Pope Francis, not Vance’s touch or Berger’s cinema. Think of "Conclave" as a mixed blessing: it’s a wonderful movie, structured around an ensemble whose work is equal to any other seen

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