dir. by Thomas McCarthy
Director Tom McCarthy returns to form with an absolutely incredible journalistic drama that is easily one of the year's very best films.
Spotlight centres around the Boston Globe's titular Spotlight team during the process of uncovering the Catholic Church child molestation scandal. This team, consisting of Mike (Mark Ruffalo), Walter (Michael Keaton), Sacha (Rachel McAdams), and Marty (Liev Schreiber), and supervised by Ben (John Slattery), starts the investigation modestly. They begin with a single case, looking to pursue what initially looks like an individual scenario. It's immediately striking that the film's style creates a down-to-earth atmosphere. The colour palette is cold, the performances are subdued, and the tension boils subtly under the surface. For a good chunk of its running time, the film maintains a low profile, which means that it's easy to miss how the film subtly cranks up its intensity until it explodes into a burst of horror and passionate fury. The plot builds up as pieces come together. The dialogue slowly becomes filled with more and more passion, horror, and righteous fury. The case has an ever-increasing effect on the characters. It hits its notes subtly, maintaining a specific style that forgoes flashy directorial flourishes in favour of a laser focus on the story being told here.
It's all the better for that focus, as the story being told here is downright excellent. This is a tale about how intrepid reporters followed a trail that revealed an entire system designed to protect abusers. The facts are revealed methodically, with each one leading to the next. There's no scenes of noticeably heightened drama, with the film instead electing to merge its slow buildup with the growing horror of the sheer scale of the story being investigated. Certainly, there's significant moments which will leave a particular impact, but the greatness of Spotlight is consistent across the board, and that's something which extends to the performances. With its excellent ensemble, it's not a surprise that the stars are as evenly matched as they are excellent. There's no one performance that truly dominates, and in a film as well-acted as this, suggesting one is perhaps beside the point.
It's not a film elevated solely by the performances, however. The script here is razor-sharp, telling the story in a manner that is neither bloated nor lightweight. Underneath the big themes, there are small revelations coming from the spectrum of supporting characters which add to the nuance of the bigger picture. From victims, perpetrators, defenders, and many others, little insights are given about how this horrific cycle of abuse had been perpetuated for such a long time. Spotlight rarely leaves a character purely demonized, instead showing how many intertwined forces lead to an individual contributing to the system which protects the pedophile priests. For many of them, their resigned attitude comes from a previous lack of action or consequence dating back to the earliest scandals. Even with all this complexity, though, not once is the film off point. Excellent line after excellent line acts in service of the main story, with only the occasional tangent which never strays too far from the matter at hand. It's truly riveting stuff.
In broader strokes, the film is as much about the importance of a free and independent press as it is about the systematic protection of abusers. On the latter point, it condemns courts, law firms, and the church most highly, but on top of those, it finally points a finger at the press which it so champions. Indeed, the importance placed on the freedom of the current incarnation of the Globe makes later revelations all the more damning, and its this acknowledgement of the media's involvement that provides a more subtle and intense condemnation of the cover-up. Thematically, this is quite possibly one of the most potent films of the year, and that is in part because of how gracefully its two main topics intertwine. It seems effortless, with the connection appearing natural and perhaps even an inevitable part of covering this story. It's also very important, even so many years later, in its championing of the press as an instrument of justice. It's likely that this will always be an important thing to be reminded of.
One of the very finest movies of the year, Spotlight provides a grounded account of a riveting story, bolstered by excellent performances and brilliant writing. It's a portrait not of great acts of heroism but of a group of reporters following a story to its horrific systemic roots. For director McCarthy, its an exuberant return to form after the dire The Cobbler, but more than that, it's simply a great work which covers important topics with aplomb. It's a slow, subtle build, but it's one of the most gripping, satisfying builds that 2015 has on offer.
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