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The Young Pope

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews

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68

USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 34 Ratings

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8.1

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8.1	User Score Universal acclaim based on 34 Ratings

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The Young Pope

Now Playing: The Young Pope

The Young Pope

Series Details & Credits

ABC | HBO | Sky | Canal+ | Release Date: January 15, 2017

Summary: New York cardinal Lenny Belardo (Jude Law) is elected as the new pope through machinations by Cardinal Voiello (Silvio Orlando) who thought the 47-year-old would amenable to his ideas. However, the new Pontiff who takes the name Pius XIII, prefers seeking advice from Sister Mary (Diane Keaton), who raised him at the orphanage.

TheNew York cardinal Lenny Belardo (Jude Law) is elected as the new pope through machinations by Cardinal Voiello (Silvio Orlando) who thought the 47-year-old would amenable to his ideas. However, the new Pontiff who takes the name Pius XIII, prefers seeking advice from Sister Mary (Diane Keaton), who raised him at the orphanage.

The 10-part miniseries from Paolo Sorrentino premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2016.
… Expand

Genre(s): Drama, Movie/Mini-Series, Suspense

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Recent Episodes

tbd
S1:E10. Tenth Episode
Air Date: February 13, 2017
tbd
S1:E9. Ninth Episode
Air Date: February 12, 2017
tbd
S1:E8. Eighth Episode
Air Date: February 6, 2017

See all Seasons and Episodes

Metascore

68

Positive:

21

Mixed:

17

Negative:

0

Critic Reviews

100

The Detroit News

Tom Long

Jan 13, 2017

Season 1 Review: Lush, often surreal, filled with contradictory characters and backstabbing intrigue, The Young Pope is one of the more remarkable television shows in memory. Read full review

85

Under The Radar

Joseph Ragusa

Jan 25, 2017

Season 1 Review: In the end, it's Law's incredible performance--certainly one of his best--that makes Lenny compelling, mysterious, and complex. We can't help but fall under his charismatic spell and stick with him through trying moments. Read full review

80

Vox.com

Caroline Framke

Jan 17, 2017

Season 1 Review: At all times, The Young Pope is a meticulously filmed series featuring a fantastic central performance--plus a bonus Diane Keaton as the Young Pope’s nun mentor!--that knows better than to take itself completely seriously. Read full review

70

The Hollywood Reporter

Deborah Young

Sep 7, 2016

Season 1 Review: Sorrentino's taste for the grotesque at times gets out of hand, but generally serves him well in this comic approach to the hidebound traditions of the miniscule Papal state. Read full review

60

Yahoo TV

Ken Tucker

Jan 12, 2017

Season 1 Review: It really depends on how drawn in you are by the Vatican intrigue crafted by show creator Paolo Sorrentino, and how beguiled you are by Jude Law’s performance. Read full review

50

Newark Star-Ledger

Vicki Hyman

Jan 17, 2017

Season 1 Review: With its over-the-top plot and rococo themes, it just comes across as Eurotrash--intellectually pretentious, but it sure is pretty to look at it. Read full review

40

Collider Chris Cabin

Jan 10, 2017

Season 1 Review: The Young Pope is TV’s equivalent of a dorm-room poster of Bob Marley blowing smoke or the Lenny Bruce mugshot: a depleted symbol of a radical reaction to society that finally most clearly represents the status quo. Read full review

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8.1

User Reviews

10

JesuIsChrist

Nov 12, 2019

Странно что у столь хорошего сериала, так мало оценок и они столь низкие.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

9

Barbara_Barus

Jan 8, 2020

The Young Pope is truly amazing HBO TV-series if you worry that you don't know much about Vatican city or Catholics then don't worry, It's open for everyone
1. Main characters are incredibly good, Jude Law and Silvio Orlando are amazing
2. Visual and atmosphere are 11/10 even though not oneThe Young Pope is truly amazing HBO TV-series if you worry that you don't know much about Vatican city or Catholics then don't worry, It's open for everyone
1. Main characters are incredibly good, Jude Law and Silvio Orlando are amazing
2. Visual and atmosphere are 11/10 even though not one scene was shot in the Vatican Recommendation for all who tired of the Game of Thrones… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

9

FilipeNeto

Feb 12, 2022

There are lots of series and movies about popes, the Holy See and the Catholic Church. Many are good. There can be more critical and caustic or sympathetic to the Church, but they always captivate an audience attracted by the seductive theme, in which morality is associated with tradition,There are lots of series and movies about popes, the Holy See and the Catholic Church. Many are good. There can be more critical and caustic or sympathetic to the Church, but they always captivate an audience attracted by the seductive theme, in which morality is associated with tradition, brightness and pomp, and the expectation of something scandalous.

This series does not deviate much from these rules and gives us a panorama difficult to imagine: after the death of a popular pope, very dear to everyone (who could well be the current pontiff), the Conclave, despite all the maneuvers of manipulation, chooses a young American cardinal, Lenny Belardo, a protégé of one of the main candidates for the papacy, Cardinal Spencer, Archbishop of New York. Indifferent to everyone's shock (especially the old American Cardinal, who hoped to be elected, and Cardinal Secretary of State Voiello, the face of a manipulative and cynical papal curia), Lenny accepts and takes the name Pius XIII, leading to an unparalleled revolution: preferring not to publicize his image and to maintain as little contact as possible with the faithful, he hides and tries to free the Church from the pressure of public opinion and easy popularity, while fighting with a disloyal curia, problems of pedophilia and homosexuality and his own inner demons and doubts.

Paolo Sorrentino managed to give us a truly disruptive pope: the 20th century has been the time of "superstar" popes who draw crowds and travel the world in contact with the faithful, using their image to spread the faith, build bridges with other beliefs and combat hunger, insecurity and war. It has never been easier to know where the pope is and what he is doing, and we have never seen a papacy so stripped down and almost ashamed of its own wealth. Sorrentino breaks with this and gives us a Pius XIII that we can both hate and admire: he is narcissistic despite hiding himself, and he wants to have a good physical shape and a grandiose appearance, not shying away from resurrecting robes, ceremonies and imperial apparatus, as we haven't seen since John XXIII, in order to impose his authority on the Church. In this series, the (few) masses we see are in Latin, with the celebrant facing away from the assembly, and the pope never leaves Italy. There is an atmosphere of surrealism that can be seen in the way Sorrentino uses oneiric themes such as dream, illusion and hallucination. As the series evolves, however, the director tries to relieve the pressure and give a friendly and sympathetic conclusion to his story, which breaks with what was happening in the initial phase of the series, almost to the point of contradicting himself. Adding to this problem, the series lacks a good sense of time passing: we can't really tell if the story takes place over several years or several months.

The lavish cast is led brilliantly by Jude Law, who perfectly embodies his role and manages to be equally obnoxious and sympathetic. Diane Keaton also surprises and delights us as Sister Mary, a nun who raised Belardo in an orphanage and now acts as his personal secretary, and whom Sorrentino even places as a "power behind the throne" of his pope. Silvio Orlando and Javier Cámara are very good in the roles of two cardinals of great importance: the hypocritical Secretary of State Voiello and the alcoholic and kind Gutierrez, who is also the Papal Ceremoniary. Much less interesting are the appearances of actors like Scott Shepherd or Ludivine Sagnier. Both promised a lot and had good characters (a cardinal who had been in a relationship with the wife of a drug dealer and who appears to be bisexual, and the religious wife of a Swiss Guard who betrays him with a priest and is recruited to seduce the pope), but they're both dropped by somewhat abruptly and unpleasantly, aborting their respective sub-plots.

Technically, the series did wonders with its hefty 47 million euro budget: without the blessing to shoot in the Vatican, the environments were recreated in the studio and are excellent in the amount of detail and choice of props and furniture. The costumes and robes used are rich in detail and could perfectly be used by real prelates and cardinals without any problem. There are still several scenes shot in very good Italian filming locations, and the cinematography is pleasant and never feels televised or reductive. The dialogues and speeches are very well written and intriguing, and the contemporary soundtrack often adds to the surrealism of certain scenes.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

7

brockcheese

May 20, 2019

This movie is a strange long art piece sprinkled with bits of questioning and reasoning on a pope's ;'

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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Seasons & Episodes

68

Series Overview
Season 1

68
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: January 15, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E10. Tenth Episode
  Air Date: February 13, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E9. Ninth Episode
  Air Date: February 12, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E8. Eighth Episode
  Air Date: February 6, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E7. Seventh Episode
  Air Date: February 5, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E6. Sixth Episode
  Air Date: January 30, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E5. Fifth Episode
  Air Date: January 29, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E4. Fourth Episode
  Air Date: January 23, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E3. Third Episode
  Air Date: January 22, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E2. Second Episode
  Air Date: January 16, 2017
- tbd
  S1:E1. First Episode
  Air Date: January 15, 2017