Celis, Rebekah Gail C.

February 6, 2017

AB MC 2-A MC 100

Truth and Cover-ups: A Spotlight Film Review

After the September 11, 2001 (or 9/11) terrorist attacks, the United States and even the

world needed the church, religion, and God the most. Man relied on the comfort of religion and

God, without doubting the church leaders and its constituents. However, during that time many

did not know, and did not speak of the abuses of the priests in the Catholic churches.

Based on a true story, the 2015 movie Spotlight became a hit as it told the story of a team

of investigative journalists, Walter Robby Robinson (Michael Keaton), Michael Rezendes

(Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matty Caroll (Brian dArcy James), who

slowly uncovered and exposed the abuses of some 90 Catholic priests in Boston. Directed by

Tom McCarthy and written by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy, Spotlight proved its worth as a

suspense-thrilling film as it won the 2016 Academy Award for Best picture. It is not surprising,

however, how a great movie like Spotlight could garner this kind of award.

Set in 2001 Boston, Spotlight revolves around the story of four journalists on an

investigative chase for meaty and juicy stories for the newspaper. As Spotlight is part of The

Boston Globe, it has to act not as a separate body, but also as part of the paper. When Marty

Baron (Live Schreiber) arrived at The Boston Globe from Miami, he wanted Spotlight to

investigate on the abuses of the some Catholic Priests in Boston, as mentioned in one of the

columns in The Boston Globe. Spotlight then paused their investigation on a current story, and

shifted to investigating the story behind the molest cases of the priests. On their journey to

uncover more cases, they found out that at least 90 priests were involved in such cases. The team
contacted lawyers, victims and even the Cardinal that was overseeing the churches in Boston.

Then, after a long ride of persuasion and talking, one lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley

Tucci), decides to release his public motion with all the evidence and testimonies that Spotlight

needs. Weeks after the 9/11 incident, The Boston Globe releases the story of the abusive priests,

and the cover-ups the church made for these priests. In the end of the movie, callers began to

share their stories to Spotlight which resulted to around 600 stories being written in that year.

The film is generally about the challenges these four journalists faced while finding

answers to their own questions. Behind the story that they were writing, their faith was also

questioned. All four journalists were raised as Catholics, and they all looked at the priests and the

church highly. Although I could not totally relate to the story, as I am not a Catholic, I still feel

the pain and the creeps that the Catholic priests in the film brought to their victims and to anyone

who heard their stories. It was unfathomable to think that the holiest of the holies or the hands of

God would also use a childs hands just to please themselves.

The line that appealed to me the most while watching Spotlight, was the line that Phil

Saviano (Neal Huff) asked the reporters on their first interview. He asked, How could you say

no to God? At this moment, it is made clear that priests were heavily linked to God, as if they

were God in the clothes of a regular man. Then I thought, the films main conflict is Man vs.

God, in a certain sense. I was proved wrong, however, as the film progressed. The main conflict

is Man vs. God, instead, Man vs. the church or the system. The solution the film presented was

the story that the Spotlight team was working on. Surely, the story they were working on would

bring justice to the victims of the abuses. This is boils down to the films central theme the

powerful hitting the powerless. With the films excellent imagery, symbolisms, dialogues,

setting, and character development, the theme was developed flawlessly.

 Masanobu Takayanagi, the films cinematographer, was lauded even by the Oscars for

being keen with the details in every scene. The imagery and cinematography played a key role in

the film. Recall the scenes where Sacha Pfieffer and Matty Caroll were interviewing victims and

key persons for the story. In almost every scene, the church can be seen everywhere. This

symbolizes that the church acts like a shadow. In every house she visits, there is a church nearby.

The mise-en-scene exemplifies that the institution is powerful enough to keep the victims

hushed, and that the church stands amongst the victims of the leaders in the church. Another

witty cinematographic scene happened on the first scene of the movie: when the Boston cop

watches the priests go out of the police station hastily, like criminals gone on the loose. With the

symbolism and the setting combined in each scene, the film created a brilliant presentation of the

justice system in Boston when it comes to the priests and their victims.

The dialogues were also a key factor in the film. One of the most remarkable lines said

was Rezendes delivered furiously saying, They knew and they let it happen to Kids! Okay?

It couldve been you. It couldve been me. It couldve been any of us. Looking at this line, one

could say that the story the Spotlight team has in their hands is a crucial one, but it is not one to

be rushed as it may not garner successful results if they publish the story immediately. The mass

media may have the power to tell stories, but it is not easy to tell these stories especially if there

is a more powerful institution that may bury the story. Recall the dialogue between Baron and

Cardinal Law, where they talked about their institutions. Law mentioned that the church and the

media should work hand-in-hand. However, Baron disagreed to what Law said. The symbolisms

in their conversation were obvious. The church need not to expose what they have covered-up,

thus they tried to talk institution to institution. However, the truth needs to be exposed and that is
what Baron stood for the truth through working alone as a mass media institution without the

shadow of the church.

Finally, the characters of the film strengthened its central theme. Barons character

development is surprising. In the beginning of the film, he is shown as the outsider boss. At first

look, it would feel as if Baron would be one of the films villains as he proposed that Spotlight

was not as effective as it was before. However, as the film developed its plot, Baron could be

seen as a person who stands for the truth, and that his power is not for hitting the powerless,

instead, it is for discovering those who are seated in power that is actually hitting the powerless

or the marginalized. The four journalists characters were also changed, but this change would be

expected. They were all raised as Catholics, but they were all going against what they used to

believe in because of what they unraveled in their investigations. It is also shown that the

journalists had their own biases, despite what most people expect of the media: neutrality.

Indeed, Spotlight deserves the awards it received. The institutions we are part of has

power in them. They may either use this power for good and for the bad. The film portrayed how

the holiest of the institutions used their power to cover the mess its constituents made, mindlessly

hitting on the powerless. There are many things to be learned in Spotlight. As a future journalist,

I found myself pondering on the thought that I could be like Sacha Pfieffer, Mike Rezendes,

Matty Caroll or Robby Robinson one day. The film is an eye-opener. It gives insights regarding

the plight of the victims of the abuses of the church and other institutions, and not only that. It

also highlighted the journey of being an investigative journalist, and how the hard work of these

journalists could a catalyst for change. I recommend watching this film, even to those who are

very religious. It is very critical and it definitely is flawless.