Review of Spotlight (2015) by Yorkman — 02 Jan 2016

Spotlight is a dramatisation of the Boston Globe newspaper's 'Spotlight' section who, in 2001, began an investigation into the systematic child abuse by Catholic priests in the Boston Diocese going back over a (known) period of 20 years.

Unravelling the abuse also reveals a huge conspiracy by the Catholic Church (including the current Cardinal) to cover up said abuse by exercising their influence in both political and legal circles, buying off those who were abused and come forward, using gagging orders and confidentiality agreements to make sure the truth never comes to light.

It is a compelling story, well acted and executed, but it's not a flawless movie. It's a film that draws parallels with the 70's Classic, All The President's Men, which also dealt with a massive conspiracy, but this time governmental (leading right up to President Nixon).

This film, unfortunately, doesn't have that amount of punch to it, even if the subject matter is probably even more disturbing. This is mainly because the film pulls punches when dealing with the actual explanations of the abuse itself, and focuses too much on the exposition and not enough on the characters.

I came away wanting to know more, especially about the contents of a set of 'sealed files' which they are eventually able to get hold of a portion, but we're just offered a 45 second summary, and then the reaction that it creates in the Spotlight news office.

Also, the ending is very anticlimactic, especially during the final build-up to, and then the publication of the news story in 2002, finishing with a 'phones ringing off the hook' fade-out.....

I was hoping for much more of an epilogue, so we could see how the events after publication affected the people who we'd been following through the movie. Not just those working for the Globe, but the larger 'co-stars' in the film who had contributed to uncovering the conspiracy and cover up....

Still, it's well worth watching, just don't expect to find it revelatory in any way.