Lenny Belardo is not your average Pope. When The Young Pope HBO first premiered, people expected a dry political drama or perhaps a scandalous expose. Instead, Paolo Sorrentino gave us a heavy-smoking, Cherry Coke Zero-drinking, hyper-conservative American orphan who became the Vicar of Christ. It was weird. It was beautiful. Honestly, it was one of the most daring things ever put on television.
Decades of Vatican-set cinema usually follow a specific template. You have the "kindly old man" trope or the "corrupt cardinal" archetype. Lenny, played by Jude Law with a chilling, feline grace, destroys both. He's the first American Pope, Pius XIII, and he doesn't care if you like him. In fact, he’d prefer it if you didn't.
The Young Pope HBO and the Art of the Contradiction
The show is a visual feast. That’s the first thing you notice. Sorrentino, known for The Great Beauty, uses the camera like a paintbrush. Every shot in the Vatican gardens or the Apostolic Palace feels like a Renaissance painting brought to life. But it isn't just about the aesthetics. The show asks a really difficult question: what happens if a man who doesn't even know if he believes in God is given the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven?
Most viewers went in thinking this would be a "liberal" take on the Church. They were wrong. Lenny Belardo is a reactionary. He wants to take the Church back to the dark ages. He hates the "love is for everyone" vibe of the modern era. He wants the Church to be mysterious again. To be hidden.
Why the Marketing Was Kind of a Lie
If you remember the trailers for The Young Pope HBO, they made it look like a spicy, scandalous romp. There was that shot of Jude Law winking. People thought it was going to be The Borgias with iPhones. It wasn't that at all. It’s actually a deeply spiritual, meditative, and often hilarious look at loneliness.
Lenny’s obsession with his lost parents—hippies who abandoned him at an orphanage run by Sister Mary (Diane Keaton)—is the heartbeat of the show. He isn't seeking power for power's sake. He’s a child looking for a father in the ultimate Father Figure role. It’s heartbreaking.
The Power Players: More Than Just Background Noise
You can’t talk about this show without talking about Cardinal Voiello. Silvio Orlando plays the Vatican Secretary of State with such a perfect mix of cynicism and genuine piety. He loves the Napoli soccer team more than almost anything. He’s a political master, the guy who thinks he can control the "young" and "malleable" American Pope.
👉 See also: Brokeback Mountain Gay Scene: What Most People Get Wrong
The dynamic between Law and Orlando is the best part of the series. It’s a chess match. One man wants to protect the institution; the other wants to burn it down to see what’s left in the ashes.
Then you have Sister Mary. Diane Keaton wearing a shirt that says "I’m a Virgin, but this is an old shirt" is a vibe that no other show could pull off. She represents Lenny’s past and his only tether to any kind of maternal love. But even she finds herself sidelined when Lenny decides to go full autocrat.
Addressing the "Slow" Allegations
Is it slow? Yeah. It’s Italian slow. It’s "let’s look at a lizard on a rock for thirty seconds" slow. But that’s the point. The Vatican moves in centuries, not TikTok seconds. The Young Pope HBO forces you to sit with the silence.
There’s a scene where Lenny addresses the Cardinals for the first time. He’s dressed in the most opulent, heavy robes imaginable. The Tiara, the gold, the whole nine yards. He doesn't give a speech about hope. He tells them they’ve forgotten God. He tells them the Church is a closed shop now. It’s a terrifying scene because Law plays it with zero irony. He’s not a "cool" Pope. He’s a hardline zealot who happens to look like a movie star.
The Kangaroo in the Garden
We have to talk about the kangaroo. Someone gifts the Pope a kangaroo, and he just... lets it loose in the Vatican gardens. It’s such a Sorrentino move. It’s surrealism for the sake of surrealism, but it also highlights Lenny’s isolation. He identifies more with a displaced animal from a far-off land than he does with the people surrounding him.
The Theology of the Show
Is it sacrilegious? Some thought so. But if you actually watch it, the show is weirdly pro-faith. It’s not interested in the easy dunks on the Catholic Church that most Hollywood productions go for. It takes prayer seriously. When Lenny prays, things happen. Whether those things are miracles or coincidences is up to you, but the show doesn't treat his spirituality as a joke.
✨ Don't miss: British TV Show in Department Store: What Most People Get Wrong
The production design by Ludovica Ferrario is legendary. They couldn't film inside the real Vatican (for obvious reasons), so they rebuilt the Sistine Chapel at Cinecittà Studios in Rome. It’s so perfect you’d never know the difference. That level of detail matters because the Church is an institution built on detail and ritual.
What Most People Get Wrong About Lenny
People call him a villain. He isn't. He’s a saint who hates himself. Or maybe he’s a sinner who loves the idea of holiness. He’s basically a walking paradox. He pushes away the people who love him—like Esther, the wife of a Swiss Guard—because he’s terrified of human connection. He thinks that to be close to God, he has to be far from everyone else.
By the time we get to the follow-up series, The New Pope, the tone shifts slightly, but the DNA of The Young Pope HBO remains. It’s about the vacancy of the soul. It’s about what we do when we realize the world isn't as simple as we want it to be.
Why You Should Rewatch It Now
In a world of "content" that feels like it was generated by an algorithm, this show feels hand-crafted. It’s weird, it’s stubborn, and it’s occasionally annoying. Just like its protagonist.
- The Soundtrack: Mixing Lele Marchitelli’s haunting scores with tracks from LMFAO and Jeff Buckley. It shouldn't work. It does.
- The Fashion: The costumes are better than anything on a runway. The red shoes, the wide-brimmed hats—it’s peak ecclesiastical chic.
- The Humor: It’s actually a very funny show if you like dry, deadpan wit.
Real-World Impact and Legacy
While the show didn't necessarily change how the Vatican operates (shocker), it did change the prestige TV landscape. It proved that a non-English director could bring a specific European sensibility to a massive HBO budget and create something that wasn't just "The Wire in Rome."
Critics like Emily Nussbaum from The New Yorker praised its audacity, while some religious commentators were surprisingly warm to its exploration of the "dark night of the soul." It didn't fit into a box. That’s why we’re still talking about it.
🔗 Read more: Break It Off PinkPantheress: How a 90-Second Garage Flip Changed Everything
Actionable Insights for the Modern Viewer
If you’re diving into The Young Pope HBO for the first time or the fifth, here is how to actually get the most out of it:
Stop scrolling while watching. This isn't a "second screen" show. If you miss the subtle twitch in Jude Law's eye or a background painting, you miss the narrative. Sorrentino communicates through visuals more than dialogue.
Look up the history of the Papal Tiara. Lenny’s choice to bring back the triple crown is a huge deal in the context of the show’s power dynamics. Understanding why the real Church got rid of it helps you realize just how radical Lenny's "conservative" revolution really is.
Pay attention to the children. Every time a child appears on screen, Lenny’s facade cracks. It’s the only way to track his actual character development.
Listen to the music cues. The use of "All Along the Watchtower" in the opening credits isn't just because it sounds cool. It’s a signal of the storm that’s coming to the Vatican.
The series doesn't offer easy answers. It doesn't tell you if Lenny is a good man or a monster. It just shows you a man trying to find light in a very old, very dark room. And honestly, that’s more than enough.