Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Phillida Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

osterj-47244 I didn't really know what to expect going in to this show. I was interested to see how my Catholic wife felt about this show as well. She didn't have any issues with it from a religious stand point but one thing we did agree upon is how boring this show is. Full transparency we only got halfway through the season before quitting because we just didn't care. Nothing happens except people talking. They walk and talk, sit and talk, stare awkwardly at one another before talking, talk about what to talk about later, and have visions just to talk to them. Don't get me wrong the acting is great and the setting is fantastic but there was little substance to keep my attention. I was hoping for a look at the inner workings of the Vatican with a little excitement but found myself just browsing Reddit while people conversed in the background. For a show set within such an old instition that has been involved in so much world history it sure came off as exciting as watching people walk through a garden talking.

DVR_Brale First thing The Young Pope captured my attention was stylish intro scene. I was glad that the rest of the show is equally stylish, be it picture, soundtrack, dialogues or the story itself. It's worth to emphasize that this show shouldn't be taken too seriously; I don't think Sorrentino's goal was to mock the Church or give an insight into how life in Vatican flows. I see it as a fiction story with a primary focus on Lenny. And gladly so - Jude Law delivered superb performance playing pope who's character is very difficult to fully comprehend. Sometimes he seems to be mentally unstable, on other occasions man of steel. In one scene he behaves almost like an anti-pope but in the very next one prays like a deeply religious man. That ambiguity in pope's character is what creates tension and keeps the story rolling.The story itself doesn't seem to have classical composition. As I've mentioned, the primary focus is the pope himself and his relationship with people around him. No character has been developed in a cursory fashion. All of them feel like real individuals embodying complex but yet sharply defined set of virtues and flaws. As the show takes progress we witness all the incidences which are brought about by encounters of those different individuals. That means this series can be described as a psychological drama describing and developing it's characters mental states rather than the plot itself. Since Catholic liturgy and Vatican are extraordinarily beautiful, it's no surprise that some attention is given to scenery and clothing. You can really get a glimpse of the serenity of Vatican and life inside it. Soundtrack is filled with different genres, from Franz Schubert to modern pop and techno, and so indicates scope of the series: raising different questions but still making space for humor and "spare time".My main critique, however, is fuzzy storytelling. Some scenes seem to come out of the blue with no connection to prior or following ones. Pope sometimes appears too fanatical and even idolatrous. Ending sequences are unsettling but left me with even more vague understanding than at the beginning. Luckily in this case all of that can be put aside for all the reasons I've mentioned above. Taking everything together, The Young Pope is going to be appreciated for its cinematic art, complex dialogues and intricate characters.

ravitchn One of the oddest movies I have ever seen. Granted that the Catholic Church and especially the Vatican could only have been invented by Italians! The Vatican is a sort of Mafia/Italian Opera operation, with mafiosi cardinals and various unsavory characters, much like the opera Rigoletto. But one needs to remember that the Church is one of the most evil institutions in Western Civilization, having thriven on deceit, intolerance, barbaric practices, and certainly very un-Christian things. It has persecuted well meaning people unable to accept its lies: Jews, Muslims, Protestants, free thinkers. It has been the source of Fascist politics in all European Catholic states: Italy, France, Croatia, Slovakia, Poland, and Lithuania. It is very much responsible, along with all Christian churches, for the unopposed extermination of the Jews by the Germans.Still, there are some sympathetic things here. Not all the mafiosi cardinals end up as bad as they seem early on. In fact, the general attitude at the end of a very, overly long film series, is that the Vatican is not so bad after all. The young Pope turns out to be a saint despite his lack of belief in God. He quite philosophically says at one point that those who believe in God believe in nothing, which means belief in God excuses one from real compassion, sympathy, and love of mankind. Yet only true believers in Vatican nonsense would find this movie positive. It is actually a good condemnation of the Vatican. The young pope, played by Jude Law, one of my favorite actors, is very shrewd in seeing all that is wrong with the church and although he is nominally portrayed as a conservative or reactionary his real views are quite radical.I doubt many will see this flick or will be influenced by it. The more's the pity.For those wondering, thriven is the correct participle of the verb thrive.

petarmatic What I am most bothered with this series is that it is detached from the reality of the real Vatican. Modern Vatican does not function like it was portrayed in the series. Modern Vatican under Pope Francis is closer to the people or at least it tries to be.Scenery and the dialogue and the clothes are fantastic. Nothing to say about that, except that it is not that real for this present times. It is more for the late sixties of the last century or even for some Pope a la Borgia Pope from the middle ages. It just does not make a cut for the present times. Not that I was not amused by it. I had a real feast for my eyes by watching it. I hope they make more seasons of it although I am not sure what new can they show to the people.All in all I recommend this series, but under condition to remember that it is just a TV series and it does not have touch with the reality of the real Vatican.