Speculation surrounding a conclave to elect a pope is a time-honored tradition. But for the impending conclave following the death of Pope Francis, the ranks of armchair Vatican experts have swelled thanks to Hollywood.

Conclave,” the Academy Award-winning film directed by Edward Berger and starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow, opens with a sobering sequence in which several prominent figures in the Roman Catholic Church gather around the recently deceased pope behind closed doors.

The death of Pope Francis has brought a rise in viewership of last month’s best picture nominee “Conclave,” a drama that brings to the life the centuries-old ritual by which the Catholic church selects a new pope.