Spotlight (2015)

• Year: 2015
• Released: 20 Nov 2015
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 2 Oscars. 124 wins & 143 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1895587/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spotlight
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/spotlight
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
• Runtime: 129 min
• Writer: Josh Singer, Tom McCarthy
• Director: Tom McCarthy
• Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams
• Keywords: based on true story, based on a true story, lgbt, lawyer, conspiracy,

	8.1/10
	93/100

Spotlight Storyline

In existence since the 1970s, Spotlight is the investigative reporting unit of the Boston Globe. They can spend months or years on a single story, which they choose amongst themselves. As such, they are somewhat autonomous from the rest of the newspaper, only needing to report to their superior. As a rule, they are not to discuss their work with anyone else, whether it be other staff, friends and or family. In 2001, the four person team consisted of its editor Walter Robinson – Robby to his friends – and his team of three investigative journalists, Michael Rezendes, Sacha Pfeiffer and Matt Carroll. Robby reports to the assistant managing editor, Ben Bradlee Jr.. Upon his arrival from his most recent position in Florida, Marty Baron, the newly appointed editor-in-chief. Mr. Baron requests Spotlight to place their current project on hold and dig deeper into a recent story written by fellow Globe reporter and columnist Eileen McNamara, regarding allegations against a Catholic priest of sexual abuse of a minor and what appears to be the subsequent cover-up by the head of the Archdiocese of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law. They are at first hesitant to work on the story, seeing Baron as an outsider to Boston, he who doesn’t understand what is important to locals. Baron’s outsider status includes not being born and raised there, and not being Catholic (he being the Globe’s first Jewish editor-in-chief). Spotlights first task is to see if they can get some court documents on the case unsealed, which means they will need a court order. The Church and its parishioners could falsely interpret this as The Globe suing the Catholic church. This could have major, negative consequences for The Globe due to the fact that a majority of their subscribers are Catholic. Robby and his team begin by speaking to lawyers who have or are working on alleged sexual abuse cases perpetrated by Catholic priests in and immediately surrounding Boston (those lawyers said including Eric MacLeish and Mitchell Garabedian), known victims (such as Phil Saviano, the head of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)) and insiders in the Catholic church. Through this investigation, they get wind that the problem is not contained to a couple of priests and few victims, in essence changing the focus from the priest(s) to the systemic problem of the Archdiocese not only covering up the abuse but in reality doing nothing to stop it and thus condoning it. Their goal is not only the end product of an important story, but making sure that the other major local newspapers, such as the Boston Herald, do not beat them to the scant outline of the story in the public consciousness which the Catholic church could easily quash. Through it all, they may come to some unpleasant realizations that not only the Archdiocese and the Catholic church in general are to blame for what happened.

Spotlight Play trailer

Spotlight Photos

Spotlight Torrents Download

Spotlight Subtitles Download

Spotlight Movie Reviews

It will leave you shaken….

Before you consider watching “Spotlight”, I STRONGLY urge you to think twice. It isn’t because I think it’s a bad film–it’s amazingly good. But it’s also a difficult film to watch–particularly if you or someone close to you has been a victim of sexual abuse. I know that in my case, it was particularly tough because I am a retired psychotherapist and used to specialize in working with sexual abuse victims and perpetrators…the latter, which, I think benefit very little from treatment (which is much of the reasons I changed careers).

The story is about not only the discovery of a huge number of pedophile priests in the Boston parish by Boston Globe reporters but the organization’s discovery that the problem went all the way to the top. In other words, even the beloved Cardinal Bernard Law KNEW about the many, many victims and yet did nothing to discipline them or restrict their access to more victims. But the film doesn’t just talk about so much that we know to be true today but it covers the stop by step process by which the paper began and completed the investigation.

Why did I give the film a 10…particularly since I almost never give films such high scores? Well, the reason is that the folks making the movie really, really cared about the subject matter and getting it right. Instead of focusing on making money with the film and including the usual glitz and glamour, the filmmakers chose instead to emphasize realism above all else. Normal looking actors (such as Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo) are used…and they make efforts to keep them normal looking. Additionally, the film has a relatively slow and deliberate pace–again as they weren’t interested in making a pretty or Hollywoodizing the production. Overall, a great film made greater because the folks making it really, really seemed to care and wanted to get it right…which showed great sensitivity for the subject matter and the victims. Great film!

A heavy subject dealt with rivetingly

‘Spotlight’ to me was a very worthy Best Picture winner. Even if it didn’t do much for me, which it did, it would still be appreciated for what it set out to do and would have been applauded for trying.

It took on a very heavy subject, that is still very much relevant today, and does it in a way that’s riveting with a strong emotional core, strong insight that illuminates and tells of stuff that we didn’t know (that leaves us shocked and very angry) and not fall into the trap of having too much of things that we knew already. It also never feels mawkish or preachy, traps that it also could have fallen into.

While it is a deliberate and relatively slow-paced film, it didn’t leave me bored for a second, instead gluing me in with its excellent performances across the board, how it tells its story, it’s beautifully balanced screenplay and sheer class. Tom McCarthy’s direction has all the class and professionalism that ‘Spotlight’ needed.

Other strengths are the way it’s filmed, it’s very atmospheric and evocative in its detail and the cinematography is gritty and ravishing. The music fits beautifully, ‘Spotlight’s’ script and story are engrossing and quietly intelligent and the characters are written compellingly.

Acting is excellent across the board. Both Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams give career-best performances worthy of award recognition, particularly Ruffalo. Michael Keaton’s performances here and in the previous year’s ‘Birdman’ are his best in years, a very commanding turn. Brian D’Arcy James are up to their level.

Overall, a riveting and brave film that does wonders with a difficult subject matter. 10/10 Bethany Cox

A fully deserved Oscar winner

It’s not often I follow the Oscars or go out of my way to see Oscar-winning films, because they’re usually not to my taste. However, I can make an exception for SPOTLIGHT, a film which looked fantastic from the trailer and what I had read about it. Having just caught up with it and watched it twice in a row, I can report that this is an excellent piece of film-making: dark, harrowing, and grimly realistic, but also thoroughly entertaining with it.

It tells the true story of the Boston Globe newspaper’s exposure of child abusing priests from the Catholic Church. The viewer follows the story from the rumours at the outset to the very real and grounded information that comes through and the final publishing of the story. There are lots of quieter moments and some eye-popping twists and turns, usually when the scale of the abuse is exposed. I know the subject of paedophilia in film is very distasteful, but this film is more about the crusading journalist team than the subject matter itself. In that way it harks back to classics like ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, although Fincher’s ZODIAC is also a reference point.

The calibre of this film is excellent and everything about it is very strong from the cinematography to the direction. Despite the lengthy running time, this is a fast-paced feature in which no scene lasts more than a couple of minutes. It takes you on a roller-coaster ride of fact-checking, breakthroughs, and battles against both a conspiracy of silence and the American legal system. The acting is excellent across the board, which is a surprise in some cases (Rachel McAdams) and expected in others (Ruffalo equals and surpasses his performance in ZODIAC). Michael Keaton also delivers one of his best performances and puts the old memories of a rubbery Batman far behind him. SPOTLIGHT is a real gem.