Brilliant but imperfect drama

Rating: 8/10 (13 March 2016)

I am genuinely pleased that Spotlight took this year's Oscar for best picture. It is an important film and given the Royal Commission currently underway to address abuse cases originating from Australia, a topical one that really should be seen.
Without spoilers, I can safely state that this film is actually quite accessible and not as difficult to watch as I had previously anticipated. Whilst Spotlight addresses horrific crimes against children, I did not consider it to be in any way gratuitous or exploitative. It has a docu-drama feel about it which makes it somewhat cold and impersonal.
It must be noted that Spotlight is a true story about the investigative process led by three committed journalists, their editor (brilliantly played by Michael Keaton), the socially awkward editor in chief also wonderfully downplayed by the always dependable Liev Schrieber, and their relationship with members of the legal fraternity.
It is however less concerned about the abuse victims' stories and is largely focused on the team's interest in exposing the magnitude of the systemic abuse by the Catholic Church. Which as we are now all witnessing from watching the news, reverberates all the way to the Vatican. Make no mistake, in certain scenes, this film will make your blood boil. And this is to me Spotlight's fundamental weakness in that it really only manages to scratch the surface of the horrors for which the church is squarely responsible. And only just manages to do so.