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The Two Popes

2019 film directed by Fernando Meirelles

Film · TMDB

7.5

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.

Released: 2019-11-27125 minDir: Fernando MeirellesDrama, History

Cast

Jonathan Pryce as Jorge Bergoglio / Pope Francis
Anthony Hopkins as Joseph Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI
Juan Minujín as Young Jorge Bergoglio
Luis Gnecco as Cardinal Hummes
Cristina Banegas as Lisabetta
María Ucedo as Esther Ballestrine

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The Two Popes is a 2019 biographical drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles and written by Anthony McCarten, adapted from McCarten's play The Pope which premiered at Royal & Derngate Theatre in 2019. Predominantly set in Vatican City in the aftermath of the Vatican leaks scandal, the film follows Pope Benedict XVI, played by Anthony Hopkins, as he attempts to convince Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (who eventually becomes Pope Francis), played by Jonathan Pryce, to reconsider his decision to resign as an archbishop as he confides his own intentions to abdicate the papacy.

The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2019. It began a limited theatrical release in the United States on November 27, 2019, and in the United Kingdom on November 29, and started digital streaming on December 20, by Netflix. The performances of Pryce and Hopkins, as well as McCarten's screenplay, received high praise from critics, and all three received nominations for their work at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and British Academy Film Awards.