Movie Review: What Makes ‘Spotlight’ a Must-Watch In These Times

Movie review of the Hollywood film ‘Spotlight’

Movie poster of Spotlight 

Film: Spotlight
Director: Tom McCarthy
Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, Billy Crudup

The India release of Spotlight couldn’t have come at a better time. The country is going through challenging times and a large section of people on social media, blame media houses and question their credibility. Since Spotlight is a story of brave journalism, it hits cinemas in India when it matters the most.

This is a true story of The Boston Globe’s Spotlight team and their investigative journalism, which exposed child sexual abuse by numerous ​priests in Boston in 2001. The newspaper had assigned a team of journalists to investigate a church cover-up and find case studies to prove these controversial allegations.

It’s set in 2001 in Boston, so there are no fancy hi-tech newsrooms. Journalists work from a simple office with messy tables.

Movie still from Spotlight

Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) is the new editor of The Boston Globe, he is Jewish and not from Boston. He wants his staff to follow up on a small news item about an abusive priest. It’s a tricky story to report on as a lot of prominent figures of the city have passed out from Catholic schools and colleges and that possibly is one of the reasons why no one has reported on this story.

A dialogue from a team member sums up why this story needs to be followed up,‘If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse them’.

After some amazing groundwork by the Globes’ investigative reporters team Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton), who edits the section, and journalists Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matty Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) what they unearth is something bigger than anyone of them thought it was, an on-going child abuse scandal for which the Catholic Church has a lot to answer for.

Movie still from Spotlight

The magic of Spotlight is in the script by Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer and since McCarthy is also the director of the film, he knew exactly the kind of direction the story needs. Liev Schreiber is excellent as the newly appointed no-nonsense editor. Rachel McAdams and Mark Ruffalo are superb as journalists who persistently follow the story but are also very sensitive while interviewing the victims. It shows they have done the roles with their heart in it.

Spotlight is a must watch not just for those associated with the media but also for those who need to put their faith back into journalism, this is the most amazing reminder of how good journalism can move mountains.

Rating: 4/5