There's a scene in The Young Pope where a lay person is led by a priest into the Apostolic Palace to meet the new Pope Pius XIII. As the visitor takes in the beautifully imposing structure, the priest tells her that it was designed to make visitors feel uneasy once they stepped inside.
Nothing could sum up better what it's like for viewers to step into the new HBO series. The Young Pope will impress, awe and even charm you, but it will leave you apprehensive. And, somehow, that works.
Beautifully made, cleverly written and featuring on-point performances, 'The Young Pope' is nothing if not intriguing.
As the title gives away, the 10-episode series centers on the newly elected Pius XIII, a.k.a. Lenny Belardo, the 42-year-old former cardinal from New York and first-ever pope from the United States. It’s apparent early on that many of the church cardinals who voted to elect him did so believing he was impressionable and could be easily manipulated.
It takes all of two minutes (in a jaw-dropping opening scene) to realize that The Young Pope's young pope is anything but. Pius XIII is more akin to a "sleeper radical," someone who flew below the radar and gave off a favorable-enough impression long enough to come into a position of power. Now that he's succeeded, the only word he's interested in is his own, and his word is revolution.
Unlike the openness and olive branch-extending nature of recent real-world papacies, Lenny’s revolution is an inward retreat for the Church. No more building global “friendships,” no more evangelizing and no more tolerance for different perspectives. All that matters now is God, the pope says, and if that means losing millions of “part-time” Catholics in the process, so be it.
Now it seems easy to draw comparisons to Young Pope and our current political climate. After all, both feature an establishment-heavy government getting turned on its head by an unpredictable radical. But that's where the similarities more or less end.
Case in point, where our president-elect loves the spotlight, Lenny wants to operate from the shadows as the most closed-off pope in modern history. That means limited public events and restricted access to anyone not in his immediate circle. He even forbids photos of himself to be taken for merchandising (?!) and prefers to give speeches while cloaked in darkness. Mystique is his ally, shield and weapon.
But what's he hoping to accomplish with his scorched-earth papacy, and why? That's the central mystery to The Young Pope that no one -- not even the viewers, who see the most of Lenny -- will easily figure out.
The actors depicting the people around Lenny turn in stellar performances. James Cromwell gives bite to the bitter Cardinal Michael Spencer, whose shot at the papacy was usurped by his former protégé, and Scott Shepherd makes Cardinal Dussolier a solid foil for Lenny, his childhood friend ("This place smells like incense and death," Dussolier says in reference to the Vatican and the network of people that run it. "I prefer the smell of s*** and life.").
Diane Keaton and Silvio Orlando provide standout supporting work: Keaton gives Sister Mary, Lenny’s mother figure from his childhood at an orphanage, an honest air with a smart and witty edge, while Orlando’s Cardinal Voiello may be one of the show’s most complex features, carrying out unseemly political schemes that are simultaneously selfish and selfless.
But it’s Jude Law who owns every minute of his screen time. He couldn’t be better with his portrayal of Lenny as a mysterious, contradicting figure. He’ll pivot from inscrutable to humorous to monstrous in the space of a couple minutes, all while barely changing his tone or facial expression. With Sister Mary in particular, he can be kind one moment and uncomfortably cruel the next.
Even in private, it’s still all but impossible to figure out what makes Lenny tick, what he wants or what he even believes.
What is undeniable is that Lenny is no fool and not to be trifled with. A cardinal points out to him that the most recent Pope Pius-es before him (in the lead-up to World War II) had a history of appeasing dictators. But this Pius doesn't seem interested in appeasing; this guy is the dictator.
Having a protagonist that's both menacing and totally mysterious could be a hard sell for some shows, but The Young Pope is blessed to have exceptional performances accompanied by a captivating production. Pope is beautifully made, with striking sets, smart shooting and careful use of music and silence. If the acting doesn't pull you in immediately, the rest will.
In fact, despite some of the uneasiness radiating from many a scene, more than a few moments are awe-inspiring, ridiculously funny and even sexy. (One scene that encapsulates all three of these involves Lenny picking out what to wear to address the cardinals while LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” is blaring. It’s just great.)
There are periods of the show, especially in the first episode, that feel overly tedious and unnecessary. But the main characters are given such depth and conflict, and portrayed so expertly, it’s easy to forgive the few extraneous moments they’re stuck in.
The Young Pope probably isn't everyone's cup of tea; it is, after all, a dialogue-heavy show on papal politics. And the moments of menace and manipulation can be uncomfortable to watch. But it's hard not to get drawn in by the air of mystery and power radiating from this pope. Perhaps Lenny's onto something, after all.
The Young Pope will air an episode each Sunday and Monday night at 8 p.m. for five weeks starting this Sunday, Jan. 15.
