Spotlight is
a captivating, thought-provoking, thrilling, and dramatic film based on the
real-life investigation by the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team into the sexual
abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests in the Boston area. The team not
only exposed the priests but also the system that protected them from being
convicted or even exposed for their crimes.
The Spotlight
team’s work earned The Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public
Service. The standout figure behind this film is writer and director Tom
McCarthy. Alongside Josh Singer (who co-wrote the movie), McCarthy captured the
events so accurately that the only complaint about the film’s truthfulness came
from someone whose role in the incident was negligible.
Spotlight won
Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the 2016 Academy Awards, among 92
accolades it received in 2015. It was both a critical and commercial success.
Unlike Michael
Keaton’s previous film, Birdman (2014),
where he played Riggan Thomson and which won Best Picture in 2015, I feel Spotlight is
far better.
Another standout
aspect of this movie is the cast. The ensemble cast delivered breathtaking
performances, ensuring that viewers feel the pain and gravity of the story,
just as anyone reading about the molestation cases would.
The movie begins
with the Boston Globe hiring a new editor, Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber). He
instructs the Spotlight editor, Walter Robinson (Michael Keaton), to drop their
current cases and focus on allegations against the Archbishop of Boston. Baron
got the idea after reading a column in The Globe about a lawyer
claiming the Cardinal knew about the sexual abuse committed by one of his
priests.
The team takes
on the task of uncovering the truth, and what they discover shakes them to
their core. While investigating one priest, they find evidence suggesting that
87 priests in the Boston area may have sexually abused children under their
care.
This discovery
fuels their determination to dig deeper into the cover-up scandal, not just in
Boston but worldwide. The priests, who are meant to teach children about faith,
are instead destroying their lives.
During their
investigation, the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers occur, nearly derailing
their work. However, weeks later, they resume their efforts, gathering more
evidence to expose the Catholic Church.
Spotlight is a classic and a movie well-deserving of its Best Picture win, I must warn you, if you are so religious, you may not find this movie appealing.
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