For all seen Conclavequestions abound. Do the Cardinals really like the plastics in the cafeteria? Can a speech really vault someone to the papacy? And what would happen if the newly elected pope lost the chromosomal surprise of his life?

THR are here to help. Our new series The Watchers brings together the biggest experts in the world of a film to discuss what they’ve seen. Think of The Watchers as friends you go to dinner with after the screening—only they’ve spent their lives preparing for the chat.

Here’s who we’ve brought together this time. Check them out, then sit back and let them tell you what’s historical and what’s fancy Conclave. (Warning: Spoilers ahead.)

Before I send you off to the races, tell me: the level of intrigue. Is it reasonable, or is it Hollywoodized?

MARTEN’S That type of discussion takes place at a conclave or before a conclave. They have so many dinners, not to maneuver, but to get to know each other. But there is talk of politics. They were in 2005 with the election of Benedikt, and the same in 2013.

GIBSON One of the dynamics of the movie that goes along with a real conclave or College of Cardinals is that a pope never lets on that his health is bad – a pope is never sick until he’s dead – because that would lead to more jockeying. And that’s what you’ve got going on here, where they all start doing it after he dies.

CUMMINGS But there is a general assembly that precedes a conclave when all the cardinals are on their way to Rome. That’s why the movie says “three weeks later.” Much of the politics that we see in the film (during the conclave) actually takes place in that interval. (Laughs.) But I guess “General Congregations” is not a good Hollywood movie.

And the campaign…?

GIBSON They don’t really campaign. They talk about their “vision” for the church. And it just happens to fit perfectly with someone who was giving a speech. Cardinals would not campaign for themselves in any way. They certainly wouldn’t. They would ask other people to do it for them.

CUMMINGS One thing that rang true for me is that in the 2013 General Assembly, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio gave a speech that got everyone talking. He spoke of Christ not only knocking to come in but to come out, that the church needs to go to the periphery. The speech was a big part of why he was elected.

So the Benitez speech that catapulted him to the papacy can not only happen but did happen, as recently as 11 years ago?

DOYLE It also happened in 2005, when Cardinal Ratzinger presided over the Mass for John Paul II and he had to give the big sermon and everyone suddenly knew him because of it.

GIBSON That speech Fiennes gave in the conference room is a bit like that Ratzinger speech – he put his notes aside and spoke from the heart. But instead of getting a few votes like Fiennes did, Ratzinger won the election. It was strange that they had it in a conference room instead of St. Peter’s Church. I guess they couldn’t CGI the basilica.

MARTEN’S And these are the moments we are aware of. Later in the conclave, if after a number of votes there is still no choice, the cardinals will take turns giving a speech exhorting their fellow cardinals.

GIBSON The idea of ​​Benitez being picked out of nowhere is a casualty of the genre – I call it the ‘pope’s fiction’. Conclaves are built for this drama; 130 guys go in and anyone could be picked. There is a cardinal in Mongolia now whose flock is 1,400. He is very similar to Benitez. He could be Pope.

CUMMINGS I had a question: in pectore cardinal. I understand that it wouldn’t be reasonable for someone to show up and say, “The Pope chose me as a cardinal and told me and didn’t tell anyone else.”

MARTEN’S I watch the movie like a real nerd. I’m on the top of my seat. People around me think “What is he doing?” And this cardinal in pectore appears and I say, “This is impossible.” On pectore means “in the Pope’s heart”. Only he knows. So even the one who has been appointed would not know unless the Pope releases the name.

HUSSAIN I just assumed as an outsider that the Pope made the decision and let the person know. So Benitez wouldn’t even know?

MARTEN’S No.

So would the head of the conclave stop him?

MARTEN’S Exactly. He shouldn’t have been let in. I would say that I was impressed by the Latin prayer. My goodness, they did a very good job.

GIBSON And Fiennes’ Italian is pretty good.

HUSSAIN The costume too.

What about all the talk of liberalization? Would they speak so openly about it?

GIBSON That debate is now quite open. It’s a movie, and you have to be more explicit and dramatic. But the dynamic is: “Should we go forward and change everything or go back to this traditional Catholicism?”

HUSSAIN Many Jesuit priests are Indian and many are African. In my hometown of Toronto, there are many Dominican priests. The church must commit to inclusion.

GIBSON There’s that line where they’re talking about change and all these different groups and then Stanley Tucci says “and women,” and a cardinal stops and says, “Let’s just not mention the women.” Everyone in the audience laughs, but it’s a very real thing. One can talk about all kinds of reforms for the church. But women and homosexuals? Suddenly everyone gets hungry.

CUMMINGS There are also the nuns. They are so easy to caricature, but Isabella Rossellini gives a wonderful portrayal of an intelligent woman that is true. I’m not sure of the intervention where she comes in, nor would she be up in Casa Santa Marta near the priests’ bedroom, certainly not at night. But what she says, about nuns seeing and hearing, is so emblematic of nuns and so beautiful.

The issue of female representation brings us to the intersex plot twist. What would happen if a new pope made such a revelation? Would a cardinal accept that?

GIBSON I laughed out loud. There’s so much other rich stuff going on in the movie, and did that really help? But I was also in Rome with students the week before and the Pope had welcomed intersex and trans teenagers. So this outlandish and funny plot twist hit me in a completely different way because a pope had just welcomed them, kind of like in the movie a cardinal welcomed this intersex woman and said, “You have to be who God made you to be.”

CUMMINGS A lot of the women I watched it with were like, “Really? Is this how women get power in the church? This is the way to get there?” So there was no laughter in my crowd.

MARTEN’S I heard a lot of laughter and I think: “Why are you laughing?” I’m hanging on. It is an important question—was his ordination valid? Was his episcopal consecration valid? Everything like that. There is so much to unpack there I don’t even know where to start, let alone what to think about it.

DOYLE When I thought, “Is it all feasible?” I thought, “Maybe, sort of.” It’s very far-fetched and unlikely. But it travels on a symbolic level. Obviously, the dead pope is Pope Francis, no doubt. And the question is what impact he might have had in creating a church that is more feminine. And I think symbolically the movie did a good job with that. There is something very reasonable in that sense about what is going on. It is a serious statement about a church that needs to change.

It’s fascinating to see the film on these other levels, in these socially commentary terms. Do any final moments stand out?

CUMMINGS The moment Benitez admits he had a papal name in mind like it’s a big deal. I mean, come on, all cardinals have a papal name in mind.

GIBSON It was a good line. “It’s like everyone chooses their name.”

CUMMINGS Have you chosen your name, David?

GIBSON I’m still thinking.

This story first appeared in a standalone November issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To get the magazine, click here to subscribe.