The Two Popes

Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - Thursday, January 23, 2020

Academy Award Nominee for 3 Oscars! Including Lead Actor (Jonathan Pryce); Supporting Actor (Anthony Hopkins); and Adapted Screenplay (Anthony McCarten).

From Fernando Meirelles, the Academy Award-nominated director of City of God, and three-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten, comes an intimate story of one of the most dramatic transitions of power in the last 2,000 years. Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins). Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church. Behind Vatican walls, a struggle commences between both tradition and progress, guilt and forgiveness, as these two very different men confront elements from their pasts in order to find common ground and forge a future for a billion followers around the world. Inspired by true events.

Official selection: Telluride; Toronto Int’l Film Festival

  • Country UK/Italy/Argentina/USA
  • Rating PG-13
  • Running Time 125 minutes
  • Distributor Netflix
  • Director Fernando Meirelles
  • Writer Anthony McCarten
  • Editor Fernando Stutz
  • Cinematographer Cesar Charlone
  • Cast Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins, Juan Minujin, Sidney Cole
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil, Descriptive Audio, Closed Captioning

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.