The Two Popes (Netflix, 2019) dramatizes imagined conversations between Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Bergoglio (future Pope Francis) before Benedict's resignation. It is a film about faith, doubt, institutional failure, and what it means to hear God's call when you would rather not.
The Two Popes succeeds because it treats both men as genuine believers wrestling honestly with God. Benedict is shown as a man of profound theological intellect whose institutional instincts failed him during the clergy abuse crisis. Bergoglio is shown as a man haunted by his compromises during Argentina's Dirty War. Neither is a saint in the hagiographic sense — both are flawed men trying to follow God faithfully.
The film's theological center is a conversation about doubt. Bergoglio tells Benedict he no longer hears God's voice and wants to retire. Benedict's response — that doubt is part of faith, that silence is not absence — is some of the most honest theological dialogue in mainstream cinema. Psalm 22:1 ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?") is the prayer both men know from the inside.
The Two Popes is explicitly Catholic in setting and theology. Protestant viewers will find theological friction around papal authority and Catholic tradition. The film is not Catholic propaganda — it honestly engages institutional failure. Its themes of calling, failure, repentance, and renewal are universal Christian concerns. Watch it with that lens.
The film addresses the Catholic clergy abuse crisis directly and does not exonerate Benedict. This honest engagement is more valuable than pretending it did not happen. The institutional failure depicted is a real wound to the global body of Christ, not merely a Catholic problem.
Available on Netflix.
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