The movie that sets the tone for 2025

Megyn Kelly may hate it but Conclave is a roadmap to the year ahead

I’m afraid Megyn Kelly missed the point of the movie Conclave.  

If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend this movie — which I had the opportunity to watch over the holidays. It is a fictionalized search and selection of a new Pope. 

To me, this movie was not about the Pope, the person selected or even Catholicism and religion — it was about the battle for power. There are lessons and observations we see in business, in religious institutions and in government. 

If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s streaming for free on Peacock.

I was going to write about Conclave even before Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News host and conservative commentator, decided to lambast the film. As we enter a year of massive transition — democracies changing leadership teams, companies fighting for dominance, religions fighting for followers — this nuanced portrayal of power is a movie for the year ahead.

Megyn Kelly clearly sees it differently.  She calls it anti-Catholic, disgusting, and morally bankrupt.  When I read her diatribe, I thought (not for the first time) she just doesn’t get it.  

Conclave is a story about the struggle for power.  It’s one that illustrates the best and worst of groups: of our dynamics to exclude, about the abuse of power, an illustration that everyone is flawed, even, and especially maybe the most righteous.  

Power Dynamics

One of my favorite holiday traditions is watching really good movies. Our household tends to save some great ones for the holiday break.  Movies that would test what I would watch if I was by myself.  Movies the family can enjoy.  Movies that make us laugh and movies that make us think. 

It’s a luxury that we can enjoy the brilliance of others in movie form — and a luxury I enjoy with popcorn.  If it’s a family binge, our little family afterwards discusses in detail, sometimes for days.  My son joins us as we walk and talk about it, his perceptions and what we think comes next.  

Conclave wasn’t really a family watch.  And my husband (who prefers the spy or action movies) briefly drifted asleep. But for an entirely different reason than Megyn Kelly is haunted, I am left thinking about the movie and have been talking to my son and husband about it since. 

The film portrays a decision that will affect millions there were but a few who would weigh in.  In a tradition that has lasted for centuries, there are rules, and rule makers.  There are rule breakers.  There are those who obviously want power, and those who wouldn’t turn it down.  There are those who kiss up to power, and those who speak the truth.  And at the end of the day there’s a decision.  

There’s the negotiation one does with oneself when they want to know they aren’t making a terrible decision.  We’ve lived through worse, they justify.  

In the end, which Megyn Kelly is so outraged by, and I won’t spoil (frankly she doesn’t altogether either / but breeze past this photo if you don’t want to read), I don’t see the certitude that they even did the right thing.  They just transitioned power, with the hope they did the right thing. That is my experience of power dynamics, especially when it comes to doubt. 

Persevering through doubt

One reason that Conclave felt so of the moment and familiar is it reminds me of the world I’ve seen up close:  from a campaign to the White House, to the White House itself, to the business world, and in the media.  

Power dynamics, from the humble servant who doubts, to the brash and shameless who can look brave, are so poignantly illustrated, it felt familiar. 

That struggle for power is one that had me run away from the White House when I left.  

I hated the self-righteous nature of some (never the President I worked for, but some in orbit), the jostling for power, and I was always filled with doubt over whether we were indeed doing the right thing with every decision, but with absolute love and devotion for my country.

I found myself connecting with the Cardinal running the conclave. As he embarks on the process, he questions everything. Ultimately he realizes that when you don’t fight for what you believe, even when you see the flaws, you leave those who might have different values, different motives, to fight amongst themselves. 

Being curious in 2025

There’s a powerful line of dialogue in the movie about certitude: That it closes you off to the most important quality for growth — curiosity.  

As we enter this new year, one filled with transitions, I’m not certain about the person (or people when it comes to Cabinet members) we’re giving power to, or in the pureness of the one who is giving it up.  None but the individual knows what is in one’s heart.  But I know that I must remain curious, open-minded, and continue to work towards what I believe even in the face of doubt, because if you don’t you might not be represented. And how lucky we are to all bring our perspectives to the table.

I’m sorry Megyn Kelly missed out, was offended, and lost the plot.  

Not for the first time, it’s her loss.  

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

**  Remembering Jimmy Carter: I would be remiss if I didn’t remark on the passing of former President Jimmy Carter over the holiday.  He was a President who lived his faith, went back to his roots after the Presidency and undoubtedly struggled with the world as it should be versus the world as it is.  I’m thinking this week of my friends who worked with him, were inspired by him, and told me stories of the kind and compassionate man he was.  RIP Jimmy Carter.