Today, Easter Monday, people all over the world mourn the loss of Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He was a groundbreaking leader in many ways — the first pope from the Jesuit Order, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, the first to be born or raised outside of Europe in nearly 1300 years, and the first to make women full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia. That’s only the beginning of what made Pope Francis unique, and while he hardly went as far as many had hoped, he was one of the most progressive popes in his condemnation of far-right, anti-gay, anti-immigrant sentiment. These somewhat liberal values made him arguably similar to perhaps the best depiction of a pope in media history — John Malkovich in The New Pope.
The New Pope is essentially the second season and a continuation of The Young Pope, which starred Jude Law as an infamous, trickster-type pope who flirted with right-wing authoritarianism before going into a coma and reemerging as a powerful figure of love. It’s Malkovich’s portrayal of a conflicted papal leader in The New Pope, though, which is perhaps the most affecting, and the most relevant, considering the recent loss of Pope Francis. Now, more than ever, The New Pope and The Young Pope should be on your watchlist, and will not only give you a better understanding of the Vatican and the Catholic faith, but could even spiritually nourish viewers. Here’s why.
Producing the Pope: Backstory of the Shows

There have always been films about the Catholic Church and its seminal figures, from A Man for All Seasons and The Flowers of Saint Francis to The Cardinal and The Agony and the Ecstasy. If anything, there has been an odd surfeit of Vatican-related projects recently — 2019’s The Two Popes, 2024’s Conclave, 2011’s We Have a Pope, and a litany of horror films (Deliver Us, The Pope’s Exorcist, The Rite, The Vatican Tapes). The papal apotheosis of these is filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s 2016 series The Young Pope and its 2020 follow-up, The New Pope.
The Young Pope essentially dramatized the real events of 2013, when Pope Benedict XVI chose to resign and was succeeded by Pope Francis. The series looks at the political wheeling and dealing that results in the compromise vote of the titular young pope, a slick American who is less controllable than the cardinals thought. When he goes into a coma, John Malkovich’s fascinating character, Sir John Brannox, is installed as pope and tries to find “a middle path” between the far right and the progressives.

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Paolo Sorrentino, known for Oscar-winning (The Great Beauty) and Oscar-nominated (The Hand of God) films, decided to try his hand at television with The Young Pope. The series immediately became a massive international co-production between Sky, Canal+, HBO, Wildside, Haut et Court TV, and Mediapro, taking three years to complete. It was Italy’s most expensive TV series, with Sorrentino and his team essentially rebuilding Vatican City at Cinecittà studios, the largest film studio in Europe; those sets would be reused for The New Pope and also the recent film, Conclave.
The Young Pope would go on to air in 80 countries, and became the first TV series to screen at the Venice International Film Festival, and the first Italian series to get nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. The show was also the most-watched program for the TV network Sky, even exceeding its Italian release of Game of Thrones. With all the heavy lifting out of the way thanks to the production design of The Young Pope, The New Pope took less than a year to film and screened at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2019 before airing on television in January 2020, finishing its run of nine episodes right before the world fell apart. It’s perhaps the last great pre-COVID series.
A Beautiful Vision of a Complicated Church

John Malkovich gives one of his greatest performances as Sir John Brannox, who may have been called a “dandy” in earlier eras. He wears eyeliner, a nod to his youth as a goth, and has a secret drug addiction. He is blamed by his parents for the death of his brother at a young age, and lives in his shadow despite being one of the most respected theologians and cardinals in Europe. After Jude Law’s Pope Pius goes into a coma, Cardinal Viglietti is elected as the Vatican’s new sovereign (taking the name of Pope Francis, ironically), but dies (or is assassinated) shortly after his catastrophic reign.

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Brannox reluctantly becomes the pope, choosing the name of Pope John Paul III, and leads the Church during a fragile, dangerous transition. His leadership is a stark contrast from the prior popes, and the show becomes a fascinating portrait of politics and faith in its depiction of his time in power. Both The Young Pope and The New Pope, in fact, are theological masterpieces in their study of spirituality, doubt, power, and love. They are littered with brilliant lines of dialogue that make you deeply consider your own faith, its purpose, and the point of the Catholic Church as an institution itself.
The shows are also breathtakingly beautiful, driven by Sorrentino’s auteurist vision. Aside from the immaculate production and costume design, The Young Pope and The New Pope are outstanding audiovisual experiences. Composer Lele Marchitelli’s unforgettable music (both charming and moving in equal measure) aids editor Cristiano Travaglioli’s graceful cuts and transitions to create gorgeous, quick-moving episodes. Cinematographer Luca Bigazzi has worked with Sorrentino on most of his projects, and if you’ve seen The Great Beauty, This Must be the Place, Il Divo, or any other Sorrentino films, you know what kind of jaw-dropping visuals to expect.
Additionally, these two shows have some of the best soundtracks in the history of television and music. Diverse, captivating, and perfectly curated, the songs in these shows arrive at exactly the precise moment to be as emotionally affecting as possible. From the folk rock of Andrew Bird to the ambient club music of Recondite, the modern classical music of Arvo Pärt and Henryk Górecki to the electronic pulse of Dean Blunt and Trentemøller, the soundtracks are simply perfect playlists.
‘The New Pope’ Is More Than a Pretty Face

While critics often deride Sorrentino’s work as style over substance (especially with his recent fil Parthenope), The Young Pope and The New Pope are unfathomably rich with complicated thoughts and feelings. It’s the rare series that’s both erudite and emotional, intellectual and visceral. It’s also, without any doubt, the greatest television series to focus on theology and faith, and there is stiff competition. These themes are fused with some of the greatest monologues in TV history, with the papacy providing ample opportunities to write lengthy, complicated speeches. Sorrentino does not disappoint.
While it is rather long, we’d like to include this monologue delivered by Malkovich’s pope as he speaks to the masses gathered at St. Peter’s Square. It’s a perfect embodiment of the unique tone and power of The New Pope, and speaks to our current moment, with the passing of Pope Francis, better than I could possibly hope to. It’s a speech that elucidates the value of the Catholic Church with unexpected potency:

“The girls who snubbed us, the boys who deserted us, the strangers who ignored us, the parents who misunderstood us, the employers who rejected us, the mentors who doubted us, the bullies who beat us, the siblings who mocked us, the friends who abandoned us, the conformists who excluded us, the kisses we were denied, because no one saw us: they were all too busy turning their gaze elsewhere while I was directing my gaze at you. Only at you. Because I am one of you.

“Sorrow has no hierarchy. Suffering is not a sport. There is no final ranking. Tormented by acne and shyness, by stretch marks and discomfort, by baldness and insecurity, by anorexia and bulimia, by obesity and diversity, reviled for the color of our skin, our sexual orientation, our empty wallets, our physical impairments, our arguments with our elders, our inconsolable weeping, the abyss of our insignificance, the caverns of our loss, the emptiness inside us, the recurring, incurable thought of ending it all–nowhere to rest, nowhere to stand, nothing to belong to–nothing, nothing, nothing! Yes, that is how we felt. And just like you, I remember it all.”

“But it no longer matters that the world took issue with us, for now it is us who shall take issue with the world. We will no longer tolerate being named as “problem,” because, in point of fact, they are the problem. We are the solution. We, who have been betrayed and abandoned, rejected and misunderstood, put aside and diminished. “There is no place for you here!” they told us with their silence. “Then where is our place?” we implored them with our silence. We never received that reply, but now we know. Yes, we know our place. Our place is here. Our place is the church.”

“Cardinal Biffi said it first, and in an astonishingly simple way: “We are all miserable wretches whom God brought together to form a glorious church.” Yes, we are all miserable wretches! Yes, we are all the same! And yes, we are the forgotten ones. But no longer. From this day forth, we shall no longer be forgotten, I assure you. They will remember us because we are the Church.”

With today’s passing of Pope Francis and the upcoming conclave to select a new pope, The New Pope and The Young Pope have become the most relevant television series of the moment. Pope Francis was the Church. He will be missed. You can watch The Young Pope and The New Pope on Max through the link below:
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