Two potential awards magnets are in theaters this week. Do they deserve the awards chatter? Here’s our roundup.

“Conclave” >> A popular pope’s abrupt demise sets off a heated cardinals power struggle as leaders cloister themselves away in the Sistine Chapel to cast rounds of votes to select a successor. The one overseeing the tricky papal changing of the guard is Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), a man in the midst of his own spiritual crisis. He grows more agitated and suspects something’s going unsaid as the voting reflects the deep divide (sound familiar?) within the church, where some holy men want to stick with tradition while others seek to maneuver the church into more progressive territory.

Which faction triumphs? The chess-like “Conclave” calculates a checkmate move you’ll never see coming.

Best-selling author Robert Harris came up with the original premise and screenwriter Peter Straughan (“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”) has the good sense to pitch that same game-changing curve ball, a brazen act that’s a legit zinger. But it needs more exposition and development than the film ultimately gives it, a late-in-the-game error that contributes in making “Conclave” a good film rather than a great one.

Given that most of the “action” cements itself around pontificating speeches, back-door conversations and puffed-up cardinal chicanery, it might seem like this papal thriller directed by Edward Berger would cure insomnia.

Not so, even if your mind wanders at times.

Berger does take a sharp turn from the dialogue-deficient barren landscape of his Oscar-winning “All Quiet on the Western Front” and handles Straughan’s dialogue-dense material in an entertaining fashion, focusing on tight closeups of facial expressions, some of which will elicit laughter; maybe a few times in unintended ways.

Everyone in the cast chews up the Vatican City scenery, and those theatrics are somewhat warranted. Fiennes expresses the dismay and escalating pressure of being the sounding board and moral center of the decision-making. He observes the top candidates with a wary eye as votes swing back-and-forth like a presidential election (sound familiar?).

The main vote-getters have an agenda, and include: the more liberal Bellini (Stanley Tucci, savoring this meaty dialogue like a famished diner), the shady Trembley (John Lithgow, good at looked befuddled), the grandstanding Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto, doing all his sweeping gestures well) and the possible shoe-in Adeyemi (an impressive Lucian Msamati) — who could make history as the first African pope. The newbie on the scene is do-gooding Cardinal Benitez (newcomer Carlos Diehz), who the pope appointed in Kabul. Relegated to the sidelines stands tSister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini, given one of the film’s stand-up-and-cheer scenes) who divulges needed intel at the critical moment.

Shot mostly in a studio in Rome, a sense of authenticity enshrines every facet of “Conclave.” The production values — from cinematography to the score — are first rate. Still, “Conclave” ultimately winds up being cut from the same cloth as other crackerjack succession-oriented tales — except for the that late-in-the-game tunning surprise. Without it, well, “Conclave” would be classy, but more ordinary.

Details >> out of 4; in theaters Friday.

“Anora” >> Leave it to one of our best filmmakers — Sean Baker — to take a flimsy “Pretty Woman” rom-com conceit and turn it into something wild, something daring and something absolutely ingenious.

It’s no surprise given the resume of this acutely observant filmmaker, the inspired indie darling who gave us “Tangerine,” “The Florida Project” and “Red Rocket.” This Cannes Film Festival award winner carries on his tradition of accurately raising the voices of characters often either shunned or reduced to a stereotype by Hollywood and our culture — those who hold on to society’s frayed fringes, from the impoverished to the sex workers.

In this sexy screwball comedy that possesses both a heart and a soul, a feisty Brooklyn erotic dancer/sex worker (a brilliant Mikey Madison) with a fiery demeanor named Ani, short for Anora, gets whisked away in 1974 from a gentlemen’s club where she dances and strips for a living. Her “Prince Charming” is a real piece of work: a rich, carefree and reckless son (Mark Eydelshteyn) of a Russian oligarch.

After a sexy dance Anora and Ivan are partying hard and having sex like two Miami beach spring breakers. They spend a whirlwind seven days together, paid for by Ivan, of course. An impromptu trip to Las Vegas lends itself to a pop-up, no-prenup wedding, a frenzied union that doesn’t sit so well with Ivan’s image-conscious parents in Russia.

So it’s up to family clean-up guy Toros (Karren Karagulian) to solve this problem and put an end to this marriage. He and two “muscle” guys — Garnick (Vache Tovmasyan) and Igor (Yura Borisov, in a performance that never misses a beat) — break into the mansion where the newlyweds are holed up. Anora is no milquetoast and fights back while Ivan flees the scene.

The norm for most narratives of this sort would propel the story into dark and violent terrain. Baker avoids those cliches, and the finger-wagging moralizing. While the threat of violence hums in the electrified background he so richly creates, he metes out the threats only when warranted, staying true to the characters he’s imagined.

What that does is turn “Anora” into the equivalent of a stick of lit dynamite that gets tossed up on the screen, matching the explosive nature of its lead character. Madison captures every spark, and should be considered a frontrunner for an Oscar.

“Anora” takes audiences on one wild ride with Baker maintaining a firm but relaxed grip on the wheel. He’s a savvy filmmaker, well aware when to apply the brakes and slow the freneticism down. Nowhere is that more beautifully realized than in “Anora’s” final perfect scene: one filled with so much ache and need for connection. It’s a beautiful sequence that no one could do better than Baker and his two actors, Madison and Borisov.

Details >> ; in theaters Friday.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.