Some of the Catholic cardinals watched the Oscar-winning papal election drama “Conclave” to prepare for this week’s real-life Vatican election.

The church’s 133 cardinals making the pick were sequestered in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to begin the process of choosing the next pope, following the mourning period for Pope Francis, who died on April 21. According to Politico, some of the voters watched the 2024 Ralph Fiennes film to prepare for the complex and secretive proceedings.

“Some have watched it in the cinema,” one cleric involved told Politico, adding that the movie accurately portrays how the conclave works. He added that many of the cardinals who are eligible to participate were appointed by Pope Francis, making this their first conclave.

“Conclave” was nominated for eight Academy Awards earlier this year and writer Peter Straughan won best adapted screenplay.

The real-life Vatican has seen contenders jockeying for position ahead of the election, which inspired Gerhard Müller, a conservative German cardinal, to dismiss the film (and, presumably, its ending) as having “nothing to do with reality.”

The cardinals who will choose the next pontiff will remain cut off from the outside world until the winner receives two-thirds of the vote. Each conclave since the 1900s has lasted fewer than four days, NPR reported.

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