Spotlight 4K 2015

Literary and conversational auteur cinema is not usually audience-friendly and mostly does not fall into any particular genre, but this is a completely different case. In an attempt at a biopic, Tom McCarthy's detective drama tells the story of a high-profile scandal between Boston reporters and the Catholic Church, which was accused of multiple cases of pedophilia and molestation of minors, in a language that is understandable to the viewer. Did I like it? Yes, definitely.

This film, like many others, motivated me to put off watching the author's previous works. It resonated with me, so to speak. Spotlight is a film based on real events, but for the sake of artistry, much has been embellished or omitted, yet it is still quite interesting to watch. Yes, it is far from being an entertaining, mainstream film, so the general audience will either find it boring or not know anything about it at all. Don't expect a clear exposition or an engaging introduction in the first thirty minutes—there simply isn't one. Without any unnecessary preliminaries, you are thrown into the thick of it and left to fend for yourself. Don't expect any action either: it's a two-hour procedural set in closed rooms among journalists who talk a lot, write a lot, conduct a lot of interviews, and almost always try to get to the bottom of things. At first, I thought I was watching a Sorkin film, but I googled it and realized he had nothing to do with it. McCarthy wrote and directed it all himself. Yes, it's a very opportunistic film aimed at the Oscars. It's simply socially acute and convenient for film academics.

The cast is simply phenomenal, consisting of Hollywood giants: Keaton, Ruffalo, Tucci, McAdams, Schreiber, and many others. The acting is excellent. The script is quite good in terms of both form and content.

Spotlight is a film worth watching to stay informed. Yes, the subject matter is not specific to our region, but it is quite significant for the whole world. There were even many jokes about this topic in The Simpsons. But at its core, it is a very sad event. Tragic. Disgusting. Horrible. It needs to be publicized.