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Conclave is a 2024 film adaptation of Robert Harris' 2016 novel of the same name. It follows Dean of the College of Cardinals, Thomas Lawrence, as he is tasked with overseeing the papal conclave following the death of the pope-- as well as uncovering the scandals and secrets regarding his fellow cardinals and the church itself.

So, I will admit-- the yaoi posts regarding this movie did get me to watch it. Throw rocks at me or whatever, I don't care! What else did you expect from the guy in the literal fujoshi webring?!

Fujoing out aside, this movie was actually phenomenal. I liked it so much that I went out to buy and read the book barely 2 days later. (But I won't be covering anything regarding the novel, since this is solely focusing on the movie.) This movie is categorized as a thriller, and I'm sure most people wouldn't expect that from the topic the movie covers-- but it genuinely had me on the edge of my seat. I was constantly waiting in anticipation of what would happen next, and the movie did an excellent job of making me feel like I was really there, and part of this sacred procedure.

The political message of this movie was also amazing, and was such an accurate, direct critisicm of the church. The desire to cling to traditions, and how easily 'progress' can be undone with the decision to choose the wrong person-- at that point is it even progress at all? The line about choosing the 'least worst' option also felt incredibly relevant, and I loved the commentary on women's roles in the church. Also, Benitez as a character meant so much to me-- I really didn't expect an intersex character in this movie. He was portrayed very well and the line 'I am what God made me' genuinely almost moved me to tears.

I was also blown away by the cinematography and the art of the visuals adds so, so much to every scene. Some moments that readily come to mind are Agnes overhearing the cardinals from outside, Benitez choosing his title, and the final meeting between Benitez and Lawrence. And again, that's literally just a couple. The movie was such a beauty just to look at and you could infer so much about the meaning of a scene not just by the literal interactions on screen, but by how they're framed and artistically portrayed.

So... why not a 10/10? It's nothing crazy, honestly. I just wasn't a fan of the pacing, which tends to happen a lot when I watch movies. That doesn't make the movie bad or anything, but it just felt very odd at times how things jumped around. I definitely prefer the novel in regards to that. We get a lot more character introspective, as well-- although I still really love Lawrence as a protagonist in the movie. New old man babygirl on the list.

Overall, a wonderful experience and definitely a movie I was sleeping on for far too long. Very quickly shot up in my list of favorites!

Return of the Obra Dinn is a first person, investigative mystery game surrounding the titular merchant ship, the 'Obra Dinn'. The ship left London in 1802 with 60 passengers onboard, but was declared lost at sea when it did not meet its destination. However, five years later, the ship miraculously washed back up with visible damage and all of the passengers dead or missing.

I had high hopes for this game the moment I saw it. It's made by Lucas Pope who, in case you don't know already, made the game Papers, Please-- one of my favorite video games, that I have 22 hours on record on steam! Similarly to Papers, Please, Return of the Obra Dinn presents a task that seems very mundane but pairs it with a very compelling and investing story that immediately hooks you to keep going and investigating. To figure out what happened to each of the passengers, you're given a watch that can take you back in time to the exact moment the victim died when you investigate a body-- you have to use all the hints you gather from your surroundings and interactions between passengers to not only identify the victim, but also how they died and by who/what.

The playstyle is so unique and I've never seen a game like it before! While the game felt very tedious at times, I feel like that was more of an issue on my part. I didn't like how many people you had to deduce just by doing guesswork, though, and the game did feel a little clunky at times with the actual investigation process and the use of the log book. Still, I don't think this makes it a bad game-- buuut it did knock some points off my rating just for personal preferences. Your's might be different!

One part that I only have praise for is the creative elements. The stylization of this game is perfect and the atmosphere sets the entire mood of the game so well. I love that the scenes and characters aren't extremely detailed, as it leaves a lot more up to the imagination when it's paired with the (phenomenal) sound design throughout the game. Also, there's some neat details that just got me so excited to see-- like when you get to the scene where the 'Justice at Sea' sketch takes place, and you can see the artist in the corner drawing it out!

Overall, this game was a wonderful experience that clearly had a lot of love put into it. I expected nothing less from a Lucas Pope work-- I wish I could forget the entire thing and play it for the first time again!