Academy Award nominated film, Spotlight follows The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team, the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative unit in the United States and its investigation into the widespread child sex abuse cases in the Boston area. It is based on a series of stories by the real Spotlight Team that earned The Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The film stars Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci, Brian d’Arcy James, Liev Schreiber, and Billy Crudup.
SPOTLIGHT tells the riveting true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the world’s oldest and most trusted institutions. When the newspaper’s tenacious “Spotlight” team of reporters delves into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal, and government establishment, touching off a wave of revelations around the world. Directed by Academy Award-nominee Tom McCarthy, SPOTLIGHT is a tense investigative dramatic-thriller, tracing the steps to one of the biggest cover-ups in modern times.
In an article from Boston Globe, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston says Spotlight illustrates how the newspaper’s reports prompted the church “to deal with what was shameful and hidden.”
In a statement to the archdiocesan newspaper The Pilot on Thursday, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Boston said the movie depicts “a very painful time” in church history. He said the church continues to seek the forgiveness of those harmed, and he reiterated his commitment to ridding the church of abusive priests.
“The Archdiocese of Boston is fully and completely committed to zero tolerance concerning the abuse of minors,” he said. “We follow a vigorous policy of reporting and disclosing information concerning allegations of abuse.”
Another positive feedback from the Catholic Church is from Vatican Radio describing the film “honest” and “compelling.”
A Vatican Radio commentator also said the Globe’s reporting, upon which the film is based, helped the Church in the United States “to accept fully the sin, to admit it publicly, and to pay all the consequences.”
Last January 14, Spotlight got 6 Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editing (Tom McArole), Best Supporting Actor (Mark Ruffalo), Best Supporting Actress (Rachel McAdams), Best Screenplay (Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy), Best Director (Tom McCarthy) and Best Picture. It recently won Best Picture, Best Ensemble and Best Original Screenplay at the Critics’ Choice Awards.
“Spotlight” opens in the Philippines February 10, 2016 from Solar Pictures Philippines.