Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce have found the Holy Grail of acting prowess in the new trailer for Netflix’s Fernando Meirelles-directed drama The Two Popes.
Written by three-time Oscar nominee Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour), the film is based on the real events surrounding the most recent transfer of papal power in the Catholic Church.
McCarten’s script follows the traditional Pope Benedict XVI (Hopkins) as he prepares to hand over the papacy to his successor, the reformist, progressive Cardinal Bergoglio (Pryce), who would eventually be known as Pope Francis upon assuming the role in 2013.
Prior to Benedict’s death, however, the pair seemingly clashed over their conflicting visions for the church, as Bergoglio was one of Benedict’s harshest critics. He was ultimately invited to meet with Benedict to hear a potentially catastrophic secret that, if revealed, would shift the foundation of the church forever, and the film subsequently chronicles their power struggle between tradition and progression as they search for a happy medium for their parishioners.
Along the way, Meirelles seemingly humanizes the typically stoic religious figures, showing them bantering over herbs in the back of a helicopter and sharing pizza at the Vatican between heated arguments over the future of the church’s leadership.
As part of Netflix’s Oscar-qualifying rollout for its crop of potential awards contenders, The Two Popes — which received near universal acclaim from critics as it traveled the fall festival circuit earlier this year — enters limited theatrical release on Nov. 27, followed by its Dec. 20 streaming debut. Watch the film’s new trailer above.
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