The critically acclaimed film Spotlight seamlessly delivers a very important story based on true events and demands the attention of the world. It revisits the scandal and cover-up of child molestation within the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston and the Pulitzer Prize winning investigation that the Boston Globe conducted in 2002.
Without watching the movie, it is very easy to assume the worst of it. The movie poster is of a messy table with bland looking people sitting around it, there are quite a few big names in the cast, and the story deals with an intense situation. There’s much that could go wrong, but let me assure you that it is more than worthwhile: I would even say that it’s a must-watch-before-you-die movie. I’m not the only one who thinks Spotlight is rave-worthy — being a movie that was released on November 6th of 2015, it received 6 Oscar nominations and won Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.
Director and writer Tom McCarthy did an exceptional job at telling the story just as it needed to be told: with respect, honesty, and passion. Most Catholics, like myself, have probably heard of the scandal at one point or another especially during the time it was being uncovered, but have not fully dedicated a moment to really process the tragedy at hand. For that very reason it is particularly important for Catholics, but also for anyone else, to watch this movie and recognize that this kind of institutional corruption is possible so to avoid a similar situation in the future.
It is clear and proclaimed that the movie had no agenda of slandering the Catholic Church nor swaying viewer’s religious paths. The movie’s simplicity proves this. The setting was sensible, and the film’s only dramatics were the ones in the cast’s human reactions.
To further argue that the movie is a fair depiction of true events, I point out that as the characters go deeper into the investigation they realize that it is not only the Archdiocese at fault, but also the legal system and the press. It was the ignorance and silence of the press during this time which buried the story so deep that The Boston Globe’s investigative journalism team was almost unable to cover it.
The motive of the movie is made clear: to delicately unveil the truth of the scandal and to provide a justifiable and public tribute for the victims whose stories were suppressed for so long.
Through the amazing directing done by Tom McCarthy, this based-on-a-true-story movie was everything it had to be and more. Although it was dialogue-heavy, every word carried a tense weight and didn’t go purposeless. The humanity and normality displayed in the movie through the Spotlight reporters as they uncover facts and testimonies is what I believe will really illicit the strong emotions within viewers. “Spotlight” also draws attention to long-form investigative journalism at its finest.
This is an informative movie that demonstrates masterful grace in storytelling and cinematography. Everybody needs to see it: the story of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church is more than what it initially appeared to be. It deserves copious amounts of attention and conversation.
