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10 Movies Set in or About Vatican City
Vatican City on the atlas: the strongest films of its own cinema, and the films the rest of the world has set there. Every list is curated and ranked by hand.
10 Movies Set in or About Vatican City
Outside filmmakers looking toward Vatican City: optional perspectives for a wider journey.
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1. The Two Popes
As scandal rocks the Church, the conservative Pope Benedict XVI and the reform-minded cardinal who will become Pope Francis spar and confide over faith, doubt, and the future, forging an unlikely understanding. Fernando Meirelles's warm, talky drama based on true events.
Film notesWhy & details
Curator’s note: A Vatican-set papal succession drama focused on Pope Benedict XVI and the future Pope Francis.
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2. Conclave
When the pope dies, the cardinal charged with running the secretive election of his successor uncovers dangerous secrets and rivalries among the contenders locked inside the Vatican. Edward Berger's tense, elegant ecclesiastical thriller.
Film notesWhy & details
Curator’s note: Edward Berger’s English-language procedural turns the Vatican conclave, its rituals, hierarchy, and enclosed geography into the film’s complete dramatic world.
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3. In the Name of the Pope King
In 1867, as Garibaldi's forces close in on Rome, a world-weary judge on the papal court wants to resign in disgust — until a bombing plot forces him to confront the violence and corruption of the crumbling Papal States. A witty, humane historical drama.
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4. The Shoes of the Fisherman
A Ukrainian bishop freed after twenty years in a Soviet gulag is unexpectedly elevated to the papacy, and must confront a world on the brink of nuclear war. A stately, prescient religious-political drama.
Film notesWhy & details
Curator’s note: A Vatican and Cold War drama about the election and papacy of a fictional pope.
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5. Pope Joan
In the 9th century, a brilliant Englishwoman disguises herself as a man to gain the education denied to her sex, rising through the ranks of the Church all the way to the papal throne. A sweeping historical drama drawn from legend.
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6. We Have a Pope
Moments after his election, a newly chosen pope is seized by a paralyzing panic and cannot bring himself to accept the role, sending the Vatican into quiet crisis as a therapist is secretly summoned. Nanni Moretti's gentle, melancholy comedy.
Film notesWhy & details
Curator’s note: A Nanni Moretti comedy-drama about a cardinal elected pope and the psychological burden of the office.
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7. Angels & Demons
Recruited by the Vatican after four cardinals are kidnapped during a papal conclave, a Harvard symbologist races through Rome to foil a resurgent secret society and a deadly plot. A brisk Dan Brown thriller.
Film notesWhy & details
Curator’s note: A thriller structured around a Vatican conclave, Swiss Guard investigation, and threat to Vatican City.
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8. The Conclave
In 1458, eighteen cardinals gather to elect a new pope, and a young, ambitious Rodrigo Borgia learns to play the ruthless game of Vatican politics. A historical drama of intrigue and power.
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9. Il commissario Lo Gatto
A Sicilian police inspector assigned to the tiny force of Vatican City finds his zeal for justice comically at odds with the delicate protocols of the papal state when he investigates a priest's murder. An Italian comedy.
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10. Pope Joan
Presenting the medieval legend as fact, this drama follows the woman said to have disguised herself as a man and briefly reigned as pope in the 9th century, and the love that threatened to expose her. A historical drama.
Film notes
Selected by the Films Around the World editorial desk
Lists are ranked for craft, enduring reputation, influence, and depth of engagement with place. Native selections require a verified creative relationship to the country; souvenir selections require an outside creative lead and a country-centered story. Read the methodology.
Editorial review: 2026-07-13
Have you seen any of these? Stamp Vatican City in the 196 country film challenge.
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