Rich in secrecy and suspense – and endowed with the potential to alter history – the conclave process by which popes have been elected since the 13th century has obvious dramatic appeal. So it’s no surprise that conclaves have occasionally been portrayed on screen. Some depictions have involved real-life elections, others fictional ones – and the accuracy of the details on display has varied greatly.

As the first pontiff from the Americas, the first Jesuit successor of St Peter and as an innovator in other respects, Pope Francis struck many in the world of visual media as a breath of fresh air.

As Easter approaches, Charles Dickens’ biography comes to the big screen as The King of Kings (Angel Studios). The film is an excellent animated introduction to its sacred subject matter for youngsters.

Director Jared Hess’ production is not the type of picture from which viewers expect to take away an especially meaningful message.

The project surveys the transformation of Talbot from a desperate teenage alco-holic to a sober, steadfast man of piety, well prior to the development of 12-step addiction recovery programs and inpatient substance abuse treatment.

Viewers of The Last Supper, director and co-writer Mauro Borrelli’s dramatisation of events surrounding the Passion, may be able to tell that he has a strong visual background.

On the run from a brutal loan shark, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson), a hapless misfit, finds an opportunity to escape his pursuer by joining the crew of a space mission to a distant planet. To do so, however, he must agree to become an “ex-pendable,” someone who can be repeatedly killed and recreated via advanced 3D printing technology.

The second series of Squid Game continues to be a complex tapestry of moral dilemmas and human suffering. The series’ intense and often disturbing content requires Catholic employ a thoughtful and discerning approach.

If the pure spectacle of noisy, balletic action sequences, fighter jets in combat, and, needless to say, that indestructible red, white and blue shield, constitute diverting entertainment – and, for some at least, they always seem to – that’s sufficient.

At the heart of the narrative is the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, a tragic and historically complex event involving the deaths of more than 100 emigrants at the hands of a Mormon militia and their allies.