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Covering one of the biggest sexual, religious and humanitarian scandals of the 21st century requires a deft touch from all those involved in making a movie about the subject. Fortunately Spotlight, which catalogues the events surrounding the unearthing of the horrendous amount of child abuse undertaken by the Catholic clergy of Boston, has an incredibly sympathetic team at the helm which allows the story – rather than the somewhat stellar cast – take the lead.
The big question the film asks is “How?”: How could this happen; How could the Church allow things to escalate to such horrifying proportions; How could its hierarchy not know; How could the perpetrators not be punished more severely both when the abuse was going on and, also, and possibly more importantly, after the events were finally discovered?
The answer is provided over the course of a little more than two hours and provides an underlining of the fact of that which is possibly even more deplorable yet still manifestly obvious – Power Corrupts – and the Director Thomas McCarthy is quick to not only point the accusatory finger at the Church itself or the bureaucrats in its pay, but also those in the media, The Boston Globe particularly, for turning a blind eye. This is a movie for the victims of all child abuse, not only those involved here, and this is where the deftness of touch is so evident and takes the work to whole new level.
In what is a deeply shocking, yet nevertheless captivating, engrossing and dignified biopic, the ensemble cast deliver on all fronts but, perhaps, most notably in realising that despite their star quality in telling this story that no sum of the team is greater than the whole.
It is remarkable the way McCarthy has managed to get his cast to park their egos at the door of the set which has enabled him to get the narrative – undoubtedly one of the most important around – to come to the fore and still make a deeply entertaining, enlightening and hugely important picture.
Nominated for six Academy Awards, Spotlight is up against some stiff opposition in The Revenant and The Big Short to name but two. However if it should win Best Picture in 2016, surely Hollywood would be speaking on behalf of the survivors of abuse across the world.
Spotlight
Cert: 15
Director: Thomas McCarthy
Cast: Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Shchreiber, Brian d’Arcy James, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci.
Running Time: 129 mins
PR Rating: ****