Disturbing true story powerfully told

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2016)

The pace of this film is necessarily slow, but even and never boring. It reflects a protracted investigation by the 'Boston Globe' of child abuse by some 90 priests in Boston over some 30 years. The main action takes place in 2001-02, with delays (by implication) after 11 September.
The investigation is hampered by a conspiracy of silence in the city between the Catholic Church, the legal system and even – at an earlier stage – the 'Boston Globe' itself. The 'Spotlight' team of investigative journalists has to be roused into action by the paper's new editor, Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber). Thus the paper is portrayed 'warts and all'.
Baron is a Jew and from Florida. It is significant that he is an outsider to the local community: Boston is the USA's most Irish and most Catholic city. Two other major characters are also outsiders: a lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci), whose background is Armenian, and Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), who tells Garabedian he is Portuguese. Of the three lawyers featured, Garabedian is the only one truly concerned to ensure justice for the priests' victims.
We learn that the Church itself had found that the 'psycho-sexual development' of a number of priests was 'stunted' and equivalent to that of a 13-year-old. However, Walter 'Robby' Robinson (Michael Keaton) tells his 'Spotlight' team that they need to tackle 'the system' rather than any individuals. This 'system' is in fact the local community.
Though the journalists clearly have victims' interests at heart, it's a pity that victims and perpetrators get relatively little attention in the film. Shown on the screen at the end, however, are some deeply shocking statistics – which may serve as a tribute to the journalists' dogged efforts. It is no less shocking to see what became of Bernard Law, formerly Cardinal Archbishop of Boston. These pieces of background information should be regarded as an integral part of the film.
'Spotlight' has a remarkable variety of settings, reflecting investigative journalists' need to keep on the move. Its dramatic use of close-ups is highly effective, too.
One need not be a Catholic (as I am) to feel the impact of the issue of child sexual abuse. 'Spotlight' tells a disturbing true story powerfully, without histrionics or gimmickry, unlike (in my view at least) 'The Big Short', another film based on real events and with a largely male cast.