Spotlight (2016)

Review:

A stellar cast shines in a story that sucks you in from the start.

Tom McCarthy directs Spotlight; a depiction of the Boston Globe investigative journalists who manage to reveal publicly the molestation of children by priests in the Catholic Church, which later throws light upon the scandals happening all over the world and the true extent of their cover-ups.

At the core of this film is belief; and I believe that everything about this film is daring. Let’s begin with Spotlight’s main risk: it is telling a true story which affects a disconcertingly large section of society in what can reasonably be suggested as an “earth-shattering” way - and it does so ostensibly without fearing the inevitable backlash of an institution that still retains the power to hide or quash allegations thrown its way. McCarthy also clearly understands how important the step-by-step processes of real life chronological events are to the story, to any story, really – there are no obvious, cinematically flashy reveals, and he understands the necessity of holding back because nothing about this atrocious tale is glamorous. We are given windows looking into the scenes of real life in the struggle for revelations of the plain truth. When much of the story is the actors simply listening to victims, rummaging through books in basements and photocopying, many directors could be forgiven for ramping things up a notch, but McCarthy’s choice to keep things as “normal” as possible reminds us of the film’s humanity. Offices are mundane with insipid surroundings, messages are taped onto refrigerators, workers file in to their empty offices on a cold Sunday morning; mirrored in this is a sequentially told story, a muted colour palette, regular everyday clothing, no dramatic or overly emotive score, and a cast that truly has a grasp on the fact that this was a real team that worked together to put things right in their own community. Whilst this sounds dry as hell, it was far from it. Instead, you are drawn into the film; you feel as if you are there with the journalists uncovering these horrific details, and this makes for a more-often-than-not uncomfortable watch, just as a film with such a story as unsettling as this should. Herein lies its brilliance.

There are no grandstanding performances either, and the whole cast demonstrates a genuine respect for the original ‘Spotlight’ team. Looking back at the press Q&A I attended, it was apparent that all cast members worked extremely closely with the original journalists, trailing them during their working and domestic lives, and this dedication shows in the connections between the characters on screen – in every scene, in all the sentences, in each second. When speaking of Mike Rezendes at the Q&A, Mark Ruffalo explained about how all his initial perceptions of the stereotypical “dogged” investigative journalist changed, and the cast exhibit what they have learnt with committed expertise on screen: the drama is slow, building to a calm fever pitch, and so the little nuances become each characters’ own colour, their own life story. Whether it was how a pen was tapped against a ratty, rarely ignored notepad, or the facial expressions when one of these pioneering journalists remembers something mid-conversation and has to make that call, all these subtle moments begin to speak a thousand words. The cast work in perfect harmony with each other and their surroundings, skilfully providing the audience with plenty of thrills and chills with the bombast cut right out.

Spotlight also doesn’t shy away from depicting the downfalls of the newspaper and the town in general, continuously asking how could such horrendous activities continue under the noses of such a respected city for so long. The film also doesn’t attempt to glorify any of the journalists at The Boston Globe. We are given insights into the conflicting emotions they all suffered, and how the scandal affected their lives personally – including the guilt that it took an unmarried, Jewish “outsider” as the new editor (performed exquisitely by Liev Schreiber) to push the paper to investigate the child molestation allegations further when a town steeped in religious moralisers did worse than nothing. When I asked at the Q&A whether any of the cast had any personal religious conflicts throughout the filming of Spotlight, Michael Keaton became visually emotional when discussing with me how his own mother was a devout Catholic who went to Mass everyday and that he used to be an altar boy. This rawness seeps into his character Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson, and, in fact, there is a sense of this running through each of the main characters – thanks to the extremely adept actors and the dedication they had to their roles.

Ultimately, Spotlight couldn’t pay any greater tribute to the original newspaper team and their incredible investigative work; a masterclass in gripping storytelling and a reminder of the power journalism can have when done right.

Me waiting at Claridge's for the press Q&A

Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo and Tom McCarthy

With the original Mike Rezendes and Walter 'Robby' Robinson