Spotlight - Movie Review

Rarely does a film capture the true essence of the journalism world. Beneath the interviews and hours of facing a typewriter are people, who at their heart, wants to send a message to everyone as soon as possible. 'Spotlight' is an intimate tribute to this intricate nature of this profession, joining other journalism classic 'All The President's Men' and 'Zodiac'.

While honoring it, the movie also tells a story beneath the newspaper headlines on the controversial child abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Its protagonists, the writers behind the investigative column "SPOTLIGHT" at the Boston Globe print are also the antagonist of this whole scheme as this subject matter was already in their desks for a long time, only to be worked on years after. This rush and intensity of bringing this story to the public is felt throughout this film, contributed by the terrific performances by the cast ensemble who portrayed these journalists (Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachael McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Brian D'Arcy James)

The movie can be seen as very straight-forward and standard on paper, but its conventionality was electrified by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy's script. By the time they got their hands on this story, the pacing just felt like its never slowing down. This level of energy, and the curiosity it gave to its viewers makes the experience more tight, and at the same time unsettling.

The movie makes its long breaths during the interviews of victims of the scandal by allowing the audience to grasp the terror and trauma of the horrible incidents, making it feel more realistic (which in fact, happened in real life).

On its ending text, 'Spotlight' reminds everyone that the struggle and abuse is still ongoing. This is a movie that doesn't show off to impress, but to inform. It's a harrowing account of journalism, and a celebration of that profession. This is a phenomenal movie from start to end, and i'm glad it doesn't come off to standard.

The geek rates it 10/10!