kingwyatt

The acting was sensational as was the plot twists portraying the process of selecting a new pope with all its mystery.

The scenery and filming were beautiful with just a hint of actually how ostentatious the catholic church is and yet not overtly part of the production (as we have seen many times in film about the church).

The dialog at times was intense and complicated but appropriate moments were simple.

The ending was true to the book and while surprising, we were not hit over the head with details or explanations that went beyond what was necessary to make the information known yet did not use any language that would be "triggering to some.

All the whining about how Hollywood hates Catholics, the ending was a twist to far, unnecessary, sensationalism, and advancement of the liberal agenda are from people who obviously did not read the book or even care to investigate the films truthfulness to the book.

This film starts out as if Walsh is going to present an unbiased documentary but we do get some clues as he goes about asking the question "what is a woman?" Our first clue is that when he doesn't get the answer he wants, he attempts to trap the interviewee by disregarding their answer and repetitively asking, again and again, refuting the interviewee's response by stating it is not based in "reality" or " truth" because he is only open to his version of reality/truth regardless of science or facts. He then goes to Africa and feels completely vindicated when the men (no women) in the tribe tell him there is no such thing, that women have a vagina and their role/worth on this planet is in having children. It's basically that old patriarchal trope that if a woman doesn't produce children she is not a woman and has no worth. In his third act, he proceeds to trot out the fringe exceptions within the medical and trans community all the while emotionally leveraging the "what about the children" without any consideration of the thousands of children and adults that successfully get help to transition and go on to lead happy productive lives. He goes even further by bringing on an "expert" who states that the high suicide rates among transgender people is an indication of a mental illness that exists in them and has nothing to do with their desire to transition. So ultimately he set out to prove his own belief that a woman is defined by the genitalia she is born with and dismisses any other POV. And while it doesn't impact him or his life, this quest is important to him because he is the one true bearer of truth and the protector of children. Meanwhile, let's keep in mind that the one unhappy trans man he brings on to make his case and who rails on about this being done to children did NOT transition as a child, he transitioned at the age of 47 yet takes no personal responsibility for the choices he made as a full-on adult. It's interesting that Walsh doesn't interview a single well-adjusted and happy transgender person despite there being thousands, who have successful careers, relationships, marriages, families, and children. It's also interesting that Walsh doesn't ask "What is a man?" though I'd bet we can extrapolate his answer to be a person born with a penis. The film has an interesting progression with a very specific agenda and yet there are many instances in the film where Walsh thinks he has been triumphant and really displays for us his predetermined and immovable bigotry.

10 minutes of ridiculous content made 40 minutes long with dramatic pauses and characters repeating the same line back and forth to each other. Even 1970's daytime soap operas weren't this redundant and constipated.