While Law is the center of the solar system, the supporting cast provides the necessary gravity.
Season 1 of The Young Pope (2016) is a surreal, visually opulent exploration of faith, power, and isolation within the Vatican . Directed by Paolo Sorrentino, the series is widely praised for its cinematic quality, which many reviewers describe as feeling more like a 10-hour film than a traditional television show.
Led by a career-defining performance from Jude Law, the ten-episode season subverts traditional television tropes. It balances surreal humor with profound meditations on faith, loneliness, and power. 1. The Premise: A Radical Shift in the Holy See The Young Pope Season 1
Lenny stands on the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square. Empty. He has ordered the crowds to wait. He lights a cigarette—the smoke curls heavenward, a profane incense.
"I believe in absence. The terrible, beautiful silence after a prayer. No one is listening, Mary. That is my secret. And because no one is listening, everything I say becomes law. Not divine law. Mine. Isn't that the more terrifying miracle?" While Law is the center of the solar
When The Young Pope Season 1 premiered in 2016, it did not simply walk onto the television landscape; it glided across the Vatican gardens in a cloud of incense and cigarette smoke, leaving viewers bewildered, offended, and utterly mesmerized. Created by Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino ( The Great Beauty ), this HBO-Sky-France Ô co-production is less a traditional religious drama and more a philosophical art-house fever dream.
This groundbreaking series not only reimagines the Catholic Church but also prompts viewers to reflect on their own values, traditions, and spiritualities. As Pope Pius XIII navigates the treacherous waters of Vatican politics, we're invited to consider the role of faith in contemporary society: Can institutions evolve to meet the needs of a changing world? Can leaders balance conviction with compassion? Led by a career-defining performance from Jude Law,
The season’s narrative engine is simple: Lenny did not want to be Pope; he was a compromise candidate engineered by the calculating Secretary of State, Cardinal Voiello (Silvio Orlando). Once elected, however, Lenny doesn’t play the puppet. He plays the tyrant. The first season follows his war against the various factions of the Curia, his manipulation of world politics, and his slow, painful unraveling of his own childhood abandonment.
Paolo Sorrentino brings his signature, opulent style to The Young Pope . The series is celebrated for its stunning cinematography of the Vatican, creating a dreamlike, almost intoxicating atmosphere that perfectly mirrors the surreal, isolating experience of being Pope. It is as much a visual experience as a narrative one. 5. Final Verdict: Why Watch?
Law’s physicality is key. The Pope’s white cassock becomes a uniform of power, but Law plays Lenny as a man constantly waging war against his own flesh—denying himself food, sleep, and human touch. The famous "Smoking Pope" image (no pun intended) becomes a visual metaphor for rebellion. He inhales nicotine like incense, blowing smoke in the face of a God he claims to represent but isn’t sure he believes in.
