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Stories about the pope span fictional Vatican thrillers, dramatized history, and documentaries featuring Pope Francis himself. This watchlist distinguishes real people and events from invented papal characters, so you can choose by historical grounding, tone, and subject.
Movies about popes: the watchlist
1. Conclave (2024)
Edward Berger’s thriller, adapted from Robert Harris’s novel, follows the election of a new pope and turns conclave procedure into a story of Vatican maneuvering. The rituals in the Sistine Chapel are considered reasonably authentic by experts cited by the BFI, but the lobbying and some character roles are dramatic inventions. Choose it for political suspense, not as a documentary account of how an election unfolds.
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DreamWorks 10-Movie Adventure Collection [DVD] | $29.96 | Buy on Amazon |
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Illumination Presents: 10-Movie Collection [DVD] | $39.96 | Buy on Amazon |
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Tom Cruise 10-Movie Collection | $15.32 | Buy on Amazon |
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Harry Potter: The Complete 8-Film Collection | $29.50 | Buy on Amazon |
2. The Two Popes (2019)
Anthony Hopkins plays Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce plays the future Pope Francis in a character-focused drama about a transition at the top of the Catholic Church. Netflix identifies Anthony McCarten’s stage play The Pope as the film’s source. The leaders and political context are real, but the pivotal private conversations are imagined: the BFI notes that Bergoglio did not go to Rome to offer Benedict his resignation and that the meeting at the film’s center never happened. It suits viewers interested in a relationship drama, provided they treat its central encounter as fiction.
3. Habemus Papam (2011)
Nanni Moretti’s comic drama imagines a cardinal elected pope who cannot bring himself to take up the role. Rather than reconstructing a real pontiff’s life, it uses a fictional crisis to explore anxiety, responsibility, and the human being behind a public office. Pick it for an intimate, human-scale story with humor.
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4. The Young Pope (2016)
Paolo Sorrentino’s stylized series follows fictional Pope Pius XIII, played by Jude Law. Its baroque visual approach and invented Vatican drama make it a choice for viewers who want striking style rather than historical biography. Pius XIII is not a real pope.
5. The New Pope (2020)
Sorrentino continues the fictional papal world of The Young Pope, with John Malkovich joining the story. Watch it as a connected choice after the earlier series, not as a portrait of a real officeholder. Check current local listings for season and territory availability.
6. Pope Francis – A Man of His Word (2018)
Wim Wenders’s film is a personal encounter with Francis, not a conventional cradle-to-grave biography. The documentary puts his own views and recorded presence at the center, addressing social justice, migration, ecology, poverty, inequality, and peace. Vatican News described the film as opening on the fifth anniversary of Francis’s pontificate in its article published 13 March 2018. Choose it to hear Francis’s public message in his own words.
7. Francesco (2020)
Evgeny Afineevsky’s documentary combines archival material with Francis’s statements on contested social questions. It is issue-focused rather than a full life story. EL PAÍS presents it as a film likely to speak most to viewers already receptive to Francis’s cause, a useful expectation if you want a documentary that engages with his public positions.
Rank #3
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- Product Type: Physical Movie
- Brand: Paramount
8. In Viaggio (2022)
Gianfranco Rosi revisits Francis’s international journeys through filmed records of those trips. It works as a travelogue and archival portrait, not a biography tracing his life from childhood through his election. Choose it for a view of the pope in the context of his travels.
9. Call Me Francis (2015)
This biographical dramatization focuses on Bergoglio’s youth in Buenos Aires during the dictatorship years, before he became pope. ANSA summarizes its pre-papacy subject; treat it as dramatized biography rather than a documentary record. It is the pick here for viewers more interested in Francis’s earlier life than his pontificate.
Rank #4
10. Kidnapped (2023)
Marco Bellocchio’s historical drama draws on the 19th-century Mortara case and the papacy of Pius IX. The BFI explains that Edgardo Mortara was removed from his Jewish family after a Catholic maid baptized him. The film dramatizes events, but offers a way into the historical power of religious and political authorities in the period.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to choose among films and series about Pope Francis and the papacy
Start with the kind of truth claim you want the title to make, then choose its tone and focus. “About the pope” can mean a documentary with the real Francis on screen, a dramatization of a real person or event, or an entirely invented pontiff.
| What you want | Good starting point | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Conclave intrigue | Conclave | A novel-based thriller with some credible ritual detail and invented political drama. |
| A relationship drama involving recent popes | The Two Popes | Real leaders, imagined central conversations. |
| A comic, human-scale fictional story | Habemus Papam | An elected pope’s invented personal crisis. |
| Stylized fictional Vatican television | The Young Pope, then The New Pope | Invented popes and baroque dramatic storytelling. |
| Francis speaking about public issues | Pope Francis – A Man of His Word | A direct encounter centered on his views, not a complete biography. |
| Archival views of Francis and his travels | Francesco or In Viaggio | An issue-focused documentary or a travelogue, respectively. |
| Francis before the papacy | Call Me Francis | A dramatization of Bergoglio’s younger years. |
| Historical papal power | Kidnapped | A dramatized account connected to the Mortara case and Pius IX. |
For a factual starting point, choose a documentary and note its scope: one centers on Francis’s words and public concerns, another on his statements about contested issues, and In Viaggio on recorded journeys. For narrative suspense or visual invention, the fictional and dramatized titles offer different kinds of distance from the historical record.
Where to watch
Availability changes by country and over time. Netflix’s official page lists The Two Popes, but that does not establish availability for every market or every other title; check the service listings in your region before planning a watchlist.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
