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Spotlight (film)

January 13, 2023

This article is about the 2015 film. For the 1927 film, see The Spotlight (film).

Spotlight is a 2015 American biographical drama film directed by Tom McCarthy and written by McCarthy and Josh Singer.[4][5] The film follows The Boston Globe's "Spotlight" team, the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative journalist unit in the United States,[6] and its investigation into cases of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests. Although the plot was original, it is loosely based on a series of stories by the Spotlight team that earned The Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.[7] The film features an ensemble cast including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, and Stanley Tucci, with Brian d'Arcy James, Liev Schreiber, and Billy Crudup in supporting roles.[8]

Spotlight
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTom McCarthy
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMasanobu Takayanagi
Edited byTom McArdle
Music byHoward Shore
Production
companies
Distributed byOpen Road Films
Release dates
  • September 3, 2015 (2015-09-03) (Venice)
  • November 6, 2015 (2015-11-06) (United States)
Running time
129 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[2]
Box office$98.7 million[3]

Spotlight was shown in the Out of Competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival,[9] the Telluride Film Festival and the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[10] It was released on November 6, 2015, by Open Road Films and grossed $98 million worldwide.[3] It received widespread critical praise, with critics lauding the performances of the cast, historical accuracy and screenplay; it won numerous guilds' and critics' association awards, and was named one of the best films of 2015 by various publications. Spotlight won the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with Best Original Screenplay, from six total nominations, making it the first Best Picture winner since The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) to win only one other Oscar. The film also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

Plot

In 1976, at a Boston Police station, two policemen discuss the arrest of Fr. John Geoghan for child molestation. A high-ranking cleric talks to the mother of the children. An assistant district attorney then enters the precinct and tells the policemen not to let the press learn what has happened. The arrest is not publicized and Geoghan is released.

In 2001, Marty Baron, the new managing editor of The Boston Globe, meets Walter "Robby" Robinson, the editor of the newspaper's "Spotlight" investigative team. After Baron reads a Globe article about a lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, charging that Cardinal Bernard Law, the Archbishop of Boston, knew about Geoghan's sexual abuse of children and did nothing to stop it, Baron urges the Spotlight team to investigate. Journalist Michael Rezendes contacts Garabedian, who initially declines to be interviewed. Though he is told not to, Rezendes reveals that he is on the Spotlight team and convinces Garabedian to talk.

Initially believing that they are following the story of one priest who was moved to new assignments several times, the Spotlight team begin to uncover a pattern of sexual abuse by other priests in Massachusetts and an ongoing cover-up by the Boston Archdiocese. Through Phil Saviano, who heads the victims' rights group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), the team is led to widen their search to thirteen priests. Richard Sipe, a former priest who worked to rehabilitate sexually abusive priests, tells them that his studies suggest that there are approximately 90 abusive priests in Boston (6% of priests). Through their research, the team develops a list of 87 names and begin to find victims to back up their suspicions.

As the team realizes the sheer scale of the investigation, it begins to take a toll on their lives: reporter Matt Carroll learns one of the priest rehabilitation centers is on the same block as his family's home but cannot tell his children or his neighbors to avoid spoiling the story; reporter Sacha Pfeiffer finds herself unable to attend church with her grandmother; Rezendes pushes to get the story out quickly to prevent further abuse; and Robinson faces pushback from some of his close friends who he learns were complicit in covering up the abuse.

When the September 11 attacks occur, the team is forced to de-prioritize the story. They regain momentum when Rezendes learns from Garabedian that there are publicly available documents that confirm Cardinal Law was made aware of the abuse and ignored it. Although Rezendes argues vociferously to run the story immediately, before more victims suffer and rival newspapers publish comparable articles, Robinson steadfastly refuses, arguing the team needs to research further so that the systemic problem can be more fully exposed. After the Globe wins a case to have even more legal documents unsealed that provide the evidence of that larger picture, the Spotlight team finally begins to write the story and plan to publish their findings in early 2002.

As they are about to go to print, Robinson admits that he learned during the investigation that he was sent a list of 20 sexually abusive priests by lawyer Eric MacLeish in 1993, on which Robinson never followed up. Baron still commends Robinson and the Spotlight team's efforts to expose the crimes now. The story goes to print with a weblink to the documents that expose Law's inaction and a phone number for victims of abusive priests. The next morning, the team is inundated with calls from victims coming forward to tell their stories.

A textual epilogue notes that Law resigned in December 2002 and was eventually promoted to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, and presents a list of 105 U.S. communities and 101 others around the world where major scandals involving abuse by priests have taken place.

Cast

Spotlight team

Globe leadership

Additional characters

Production

Writing

The film was written by Tom McCarthy and co-writer Josh Singer. When McCarthy was asked how he and his co-author tackled the research and writing process, he said:

As I said, I passed [turned down the film] the first time! That's probably some indication of how intimidating it was. But I think, as always, with any big assignment, once you get over that initial shock and awe of how much material there was to cover, you start digging into the material and become really fascinated by and engaged with it, and we did. And yeah, it was a lot of work, but it was exciting work. It was really interesting work, parsing through details of not just the investigation, but its findings, and trying to determine what was most helpful in telling our story. I think having two brains on it was somewhat helpful too, because we could talk through it a lot. So it wasn't just sitting alone in a room and jotting notes. We were dialoguing a lot about it. That particular collaboration did feel investigative and on some level, seemed to parallel some of the collaboration of the reporters in that investigation. So, I think there was something about our collaboration that made that initial process more palatable on some level.[22]

Development

McCarthy and Singer completed the script in June 2013.[23] It was on the 2013 Black List of unproduced screenplays.[24] Singer told Creative Screenwriting that one of his goals for the film was to highlight the power of journalism, which he feels has been waning. He explained, "This story isn't about exposing the Catholic Church. We were not on some mission to rattle people's faith. In fact, Tom came from a Catholic family. The motive was to tell the story accurately while showing the power of the newsroom—something that's largely disappeared today. This story is important. Journalism is important, and there is a deeper message in the story."[25]

Filming

Principal photography began on September 24, 2014, in Boston, Massachusetts,[26] and continued in October in Hamilton, Ontario. Filming took place at Fenway Park,[27] the then-current Boston Globe offices in Dorchester, Boston,[28] the Boston Public Library,[29] and McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.[30] The film's editor Tom McArdle said of the post-production process, "We edited for eight months. We just wanted to keep refining the film. We cut out five scenes plus some segments of other scenes. Often we would just cut out a line or two to make a scene a little tighter."[31] The Boston Police station depicted in the opening scene was filmed in Toronto at the former Toronto Police Service 11 Division station at 209 Mavety Street,[32] and the former Sears building on Islington Avenue in Toronto was converted into a replica of the interior of the old Boston Globe, where the bulk of the filming took place.[33]

Historical accuracy

The visual blog Information is Beautiful deduced that, while taking creative license into account, the film was 76.2% accurate when compared to real-life events, summarizing that "the only conceits are scenes of power figures warning off the journalists".[34]

  • The film only depicts the events leading up to the publication of the Spotlight team's first article, whereas the team actually continued publishing follow-up reports for nearly two years afterward. As a result, certain events are depicted as having happened earlier than they actually did, including the scene where former priest Ronald H. Paquin freely admits to molesting children and having been molested himself.[35]
  • While Sacha Pfeiffer did indeed write the numerous follow-up reports on Paquin, the interview depicted in the film was a blend of two interviews conducted by her and Steve Kurkjian, both of which took place about a month after the events in the film. After the first story was published, Kurkjian rejoined the Spotlight team (he had been a founding member before becoming the Globe's Washington bureau chief) to assist with further reporting on the abuses. Pfeiffer and Kurkjian have said that the confession was a much more gradual process and Paquin did not just "blurt it out" the way he does in the film.[35][36]
  • A scene where Matt Carroll discovers one of the priest treatment centers is down the block from where he lives is based on an actual discovery he made during the investigation, with one minor detail changed: Carroll actually lived down the street from John Geoghan, the priest whose case sparked the investigations. This was changed as the filmmakers thought the image of Carroll putting Geoghan's photo on his refrigerator to warn his children would seem unrealistic.[37]
  • In a subplot, Eric MacLeish claims he sent a list of 20 priests to the Globe in 1993 but the story was buried in Metro: Robinson later admits he was the editor for Metro at the time and he likely overlooked the case. While the Globe did publish an article about the list of 20 priests, the Spotlight team did not learn this during their investigation. MacLeish himself revealed the article's existence while being interviewed for the screenplay by McCarthy and Singer. This revelation, along with Robinson's response to the filmmakers' inquiry, was incorporated into the screenplay for dramatic purposes.[38]

Release

The film "premiered to sustained applause" at the Venice Film Festival and the audience "erupted in laughter" when the film reported that following the events in the film Cardinal Bernard Law was reassigned to a senior position of honor in Rome.[9] It had a limited release on November 6, 2015, with its U.S. release scheduled for three weeks later on November 25.[39]

Home media

Spotlight was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on February 23, 2016.[40]

Reception

Box office

Spotlight grossed $45.1 million in the United States and Canada and $53.2 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $98.3 million, against a production budget of $20 million.[3] The Hollywood Reporter calculated the film made a net profit of up to $10 million.[41]

In the opening weekend of its limited release, the film grossed $295,009 from five theaters ($59,002 average), one of the highest per-screen averages of any release of 2015.[42] The film grossed $4.4 million in the first weekend during its wide release, finishing 8th at the box office.[43]

Critical response

 
 
Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams' performances received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.

Spotlight received critical acclaim. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 97% based on 376 reviews, with an average rating of 8.80/10. The website's summary of the critical consensus is that "Spotlight gracefully handles the lurid details of its fact-based story while resisting the temptation to lionize its heroes, resulting in a drama that honors the audience as well as its real-life subjects."[44] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 93 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."[45]

Variety's Justin Chang called the film "a superbly controlled and engrossingly detailed account of the Boston Globe's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into the widespread pedophilia scandals and subsequent cover-ups within the Catholic Church."[46] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "To turn a spotlight fittingly on Spotlight, it's the year's best movie so far, and a rarity among countless dramatizations that claim to be based on actual events."[47] Mark Kermode of The Guardian gave it 4 out of 5 stars and praised Ruffalo's performance, writing, "As for Mark Ruffalo, he's the closest thing this ensemble cast has to a star turn, a long-suppressed outburst of emotion providing one of the film's few grandstanding showstoppers."[48] Helen O'Hara of Empire gave the movie 4 out of 5 stars and called it a "grown-up film about serious people that mercifully escapes any awards-grabbing platitudes" and "more thrilling than most action movies."[49] Richard Propes of The Independent Critic gave Spotlight 4 out of 4 marks and praised the screenplay and cast: "Spotlight is a nearly perfect example of what happens when the perfect filmmaker works with the perfect script and acquires the perfect cast and crew to bring a story to life".[50]

At the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival, Spotlight finished third in the audience balloting for the People's Choice Award.[51]

Comparing Spotlight to The Post, a similar period film about journalists, critic Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com expressed perplexity over critics' muted praise for the latter film, writing that in terms of direction, Spotlight "got praise for doing a tenth of what [Steven Spielberg] does here".[52][53]

Top ten lists

Spotlight was included on many critics' top-ten lists.[54]

Reactions from the Catholic Church

In general, the film was positively received by the Catholic community. Before its release, Cardinal Sean O'Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston issued a statement in the archdiocese's official newspaper, stating that the "media's investigative reporting on the abuse crisis instigated a call for the Church to take responsibility for its failings and to reform itself—to deal with what was shameful and hidden."[55] O'Malley had not seen the movie at that time but planned to do so.[56]

On November 9, 2015, a review in the Catholic News Service called the film a "generally accurate chronicle" of the Boston scandal, but objected to some of the portrayals and the film's view of the Church.[57] On the Catholic News Service, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles Robert Barron said that it is "not a bad movie", as it shows how the wider community shares the responsibility for sexual abuse committed by priests, but that the film is wrong to insinuate that the Church has not reformed.[58]

Vatican Radio, the official radio service of the Holy See, called it "honest" and "compelling" and said it helped the U.S. Catholic Church "to accept fully the sin, to admit it publicly, and to pay all the consequences."[59] Luca Pellegrini on the Vatican Radio website wrote that the Globe reporters "made themselves examples of their most pure vocation, that of finding the facts, verifying sources, and making themselves—for the good of the community and of a city—paladins of the need for justice."[59][60] In February 2016, a Vatican City commission on clerical sex abuse attended a private screening of the film.[61] Following the film's Best Picture win at the Oscars, Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano ran a column assuring that it is "not an anti-Catholic film", and Vatican Radio revealed that clerics in Rome have been recommending the film to each other.[62][63][64]

Criticism

A January 8, 2016, article in The New York Times cited author David F. Pierre Jr., who said that Spotlight "is a misrepresentation of how the Church dealt with sexual abuse cases", asserting that the movie's biggest flaw was its failure to portray psychologists who had assured Church officials that abusive priests could be safely returned to ministry after undergoing therapy treatments. Open Road Films rebutted the detractor, saying he was "perpetuating a myth in order to distract from real stories of abuse."[65]

The film was attacked by Jack Dunn (played by Gary Galone), the public relations head and a member of the board at Boston College High School, for portraying him as callous and indifferent to the scandal. Dunn says he was immediately aware of the issues involved and worked to respond after viewing the film.[66] Two of the Globe reporters depicted in the film, Walter Robinson and Sacha Pfeiffer, issued a statement in response to Dunn, firmly standing by their recollections of the day, that Dunn did "his best to frame a story in the most favorable way possible for the institution he is representing. That's what Jack did that day." They said Dunn mounted a "spirited public relations defense of Boston College High School during our first sit-down interview at the school in early 2002," the scene in which Dunn is depicted.[67]

On March 15, 2016, Open Road Films released a statement on how Dunn was portrayed in the film: "As is the case with most movies based on historical events, Spotlight contains fictionalized dialogue that was attributed to Mr. Dunn for dramatic effect. We acknowledge that Mr. Dunn was not part of the Archdiocesan cover-up. It is clear from his efforts on behalf of the victims at BC High that he and the filmmakers share a deep, mutual concern for victims of abuse."[68] Dunn then also released a statement: "I feel vindicated by the public statement and relieved to have the record set straight on an issue that has caused me and my family tremendous pain. While it will never erase the horrific experience of being falsely portrayed in an Academy Award-winning film, this public statement enables me to move forward with my reputation and integrity intact."[68]

Accolades

Main article: List of accolades received by Spotlight

Spotlight has been critically acclaimed, and has been included in many critics' Top Ten Films of 2015 lists.[69] The film has received over 100 industry and critics awards and nominations. The American Film Institute selected Spotlight as one of the Top Ten Films of the year.[70] The film garnered three Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director for McCarthy, and Best Screenplay for McCarthy and Josh Singer.[71] It was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay for Singer, Best Editing for Tom McArdle and Honorary Robert Altman Award for the cast.[72] Rachel McAdams and the ensemble cast received nominations for the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role and the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture respectively, with the cast winning the latter.[73]

The New York Film Critics Circle awarded Michael Keaton the Best Actor award,[74] while it won the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Ensemble cast at the New York Film Critics Online Awards.[75] Spotlight won the Best Film and Best Screenplay from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. It received eight nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Score.[76] It won the Best Cast in a Motion Picture at Satellite Awards and was nominated for six other awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay.[77]

At the Academy Awards, the film received six nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Ruffalo, Best Supporting Actress for McAdams, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing, winning Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. It is the first Best Picture winner to win fewer than three Academy Awards since 1952's The Greatest Show on Earth. At the time of its win, the film had made $39.2 million at the North American box office, which made it the second lowest domestically grossing film (adjusted for ticket-price inflation) to win Best Picture within the past four decades (after The Hurt Locker with $17 million).[78]

Spotlight was listed on over 120 critics' and publications' top ten lists.[69]

It was also voted the 88th greatest film since 2000 in an international critics' poll conducted by BBC.[79] In 2018, IndieWire writers ranked its screenplay the 12th best American screenplay of the 21st century, with Kate Erbland saying that the script "ticks along so well, not cutting any corners when it comes to the nitty gritty of real-world reporting, while also finding time to develop its characters and tell a banger of a story. It hits the right beats, but it does so in earned ways, rooted in realism".[80]

See also

References

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  52. ^ @mattzollerseitz (November 29, 2017). "Yes! It's very strange that just because Spielberg isn't swooping the camera around a lot, he's not directing his ass off. The blocking in [The Post] is A+, old school. SPOTLIGHT got praise for doing a tenth of what he does here" (Tweet). Retrieved November 23, 2020 – via Twitter.
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  67. ^ Encarnacao, Jack (November 26, 2015). "Globe reporters defend portrayal of Jack Dunn in movie". Boston Herald. Retrieved November 30, 2015. The scene depicts a fairly common exchange involving reporters who have unpleasant questions to ask and a skilled public relations person doing his best to frame a story in the most favorable way possible for the institution he is representing. That's what Jack did that day.
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External links

January 13, 2023
spotlight, film, this, article, about, 2015, film, 1927, film, spotlight, 2015, american, biographical, drama, film, directed, mccarthy, written, mccarthy, josh, singer, film, follows, boston, globe, spotlight, team, oldest, continuously, operating, newspaper,. This article is about the 2015 film For the 1927 film see The Spotlight film Spotlight is a 2015 American biographical drama film directed by Tom McCarthy and written by McCarthy and Josh Singer 4 5 The film follows The Boston Globe s Spotlight team the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative journalist unit in the United States 6 and its investigation into cases of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests Although the plot was original it is loosely based on a series of stories by the Spotlight team that earned The Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service 7 The film features an ensemble cast including Mark Ruffalo Michael Keaton Rachel McAdams John Slattery and Stanley Tucci with Brian d Arcy James Liev Schreiber and Billy Crudup in supporting roles 8 SpotlightTheatrical release posterDirected byTom McCarthyWritten byJosh Singer Tom McCarthyProduced byBlye Pagon Faust Steve Golin Nicole Rocklin Michael SugarStarringMark Ruffalo Michael Keaton Rachel McAdams Liev Schreiber John Slattery Stanley TucciCinematographyMasanobu TakayanagiEdited byTom McArdleMusic byHoward ShoreProductioncompaniesParticipant Media First Look Media Anonymous Content Rocklin Faust Productions Spotlight FilmDistributed byOpen Road FilmsRelease datesSeptember 3 2015 2015 09 03 Venice November 6 2015 2015 11 06 United States Running time129 minutes 1 CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 20 million 2 Box office 98 7 million 3 Spotlight was shown in the Out of Competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival 9 the Telluride Film Festival and the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival 10 It was released on November 6 2015 by Open Road Films and grossed 98 million worldwide 3 It received widespread critical praise with critics lauding the performances of the cast historical accuracy and screenplay it won numerous guilds and critics association awards and was named one of the best films of 2015 by various publications Spotlight won the Academy Award for Best Picture along with Best Original Screenplay from six total nominations making it the first Best Picture winner since The Greatest Show on Earth 1952 to win only one other Oscar The film also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 2 1 Spotlight team 2 2 Globe leadership 2 3 Additional characters 3 Production 3 1 Writing 3 2 Development 3 3 Filming 3 4 Historical accuracy 4 Release 4 1 Home media 5 Reception 5 1 Box office 5 2 Critical response 5 3 Top ten lists 5 4 Reactions from the Catholic Church 5 5 Criticism 6 Accolades 7 See also 8 References 9 External linksPlot EditIn 1976 at a Boston Police station two policemen discuss the arrest of Fr John Geoghan for child molestation A high ranking cleric talks to the mother of the children An assistant district attorney then enters the precinct and tells the policemen not to let the press learn what has happened The arrest is not publicized and Geoghan is released In 2001 Marty Baron the new managing editor of The Boston Globe meets Walter Robby Robinson the editor of the newspaper s Spotlight investigative team After Baron reads a Globe article about a lawyer Mitchell Garabedian charging that Cardinal Bernard Law the Archbishop of Boston knew about Geoghan s sexual abuse of children and did nothing to stop it Baron urges the Spotlight team to investigate Journalist Michael Rezendes contacts Garabedian who initially declines to be interviewed Though he is told not to Rezendes reveals that he is on the Spotlight team and convinces Garabedian to talk Initially believing that they are following the story of one priest who was moved to new assignments several times the Spotlight team begin to uncover a pattern of sexual abuse by other priests in Massachusetts and an ongoing cover up by the Boston Archdiocese Through Phil Saviano who heads the victims rights group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests SNAP the team is led to widen their search to thirteen priests Richard Sipe a former priest who worked to rehabilitate sexually abusive priests tells them that his studies suggest that there are approximately 90 abusive priests in Boston 6 of priests Through their research the team develops a list of 87 names and begin to find victims to back up their suspicions As the team realizes the sheer scale of the investigation it begins to take a toll on their lives reporter Matt Carroll learns one of the priest rehabilitation centers is on the same block as his family s home but cannot tell his children or his neighbors to avoid spoiling the story reporter Sacha Pfeiffer finds herself unable to attend church with her grandmother Rezendes pushes to get the story out quickly to prevent further abuse and Robinson faces pushback from some of his close friends who he learns were complicit in covering up the abuse When the September 11 attacks occur the team is forced to de prioritize the story They regain momentum when Rezendes learns from Garabedian that there are publicly available documents that confirm Cardinal Law was made aware of the abuse and ignored it Although Rezendes argues vociferously to run the story immediately before more victims suffer and rival newspapers publish comparable articles Robinson steadfastly refuses arguing the team needs to research further so that the systemic problem can be more fully exposed After the Globe wins a case to have even more legal documents unsealed that provide the evidence of that larger picture the Spotlight team finally begins to write the story and plan to publish their findings in early 2002 As they are about to go to print Robinson admits that he learned during the investigation that he was sent a list of 20 sexually abusive priests by lawyer Eric MacLeish in 1993 on which Robinson never followed up Baron still commends Robinson and the Spotlight team s efforts to expose the crimes now The story goes to print with a weblink to the documents that expose Law s inaction and a phone number for victims of abusive priests The next morning the team is inundated with calls from victims coming forward to tell their stories A textual epilogue notes that Law resigned in December 2002 and was eventually promoted to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome and presents a list of 105 U S communities and 101 others around the world where major scandals involving abuse by priests have taken place Cast EditSpotlight team Edit Mark Ruffalo as Michael Rezendes 11 12 Michael Keaton as Walter Robby Robinson 13 Rachel McAdams as Sacha Pfeiffer 11 Brian d Arcy James as Matt Carroll 14 Globe leadership Edit Liev Schreiber as Marty Baron 13 John Slattery as Ben Bradlee Jr 5 Additional characters Edit Stanley Tucci as Mitchell Garabedian an attorney representing victims of sexual abuse 13 Gene Amoroso as Stephen Kurkjian Boston Globe general investigative reporter 15 Jamey Sheridan as Jim Sullivan an attorney representing the Church 5 16 Billy Crudup as Eric MacLeish an attorney representing victims of sexual abuse 13 16 Maureen Keiller as Eileen McNamara Boston Globe columnist 17 Richard Jenkins as Richard Sipe psychotherapist telephone voice uncredited 18 Paul Guilfoyle as Peter Conley Len Cariou as Cardinal Bernard Law Archbishop of Boston Neal Huff as Phil Saviano of SNAP 19 Michael Countryman as Richard Gilman publisher of the Boston Globe Michael Cyril Creighton as Joe Crowley Laurie Heineman as Judge Constance Sweeney David Fraser as John Albano 20 Tim Progosh as Principal Bill Kemeza Jimmy LeBlanc as Patrick McSorley 21 Production EditWriting Edit The film was written by Tom McCarthy and co writer Josh Singer When McCarthy was asked how he and his co author tackled the research and writing process he said As I said I passed turned down the film the first time That s probably some indication of how intimidating it was But I think as always with any big assignment once you get over that initial shock and awe of how much material there was to cover you start digging into the material and become really fascinated by and engaged with it and we did And yeah it was a lot of work but it was exciting work It was really interesting work parsing through details of not just the investigation but its findings and trying to determine what was most helpful in telling our story I think having two brains on it was somewhat helpful too because we could talk through it a lot So it wasn t just sitting alone in a room and jotting notes We were dialoguing a lot about it That particular collaboration did feel investigative and on some level seemed to parallel some of the collaboration of the reporters in that investigation So I think there was something about our collaboration that made that initial process more palatable on some level 22 Development Edit McCarthy and Singer completed the script in June 2013 23 It was on the 2013 Black List of unproduced screenplays 24 Singer told Creative Screenwriting that one of his goals for the film was to highlight the power of journalism which he feels has been waning He explained This story isn t about exposing the Catholic Church We were not on some mission to rattle people s faith In fact Tom came from a Catholic family The motive was to tell the story accurately while showing the power of the newsroom something that s largely disappeared today This story is important Journalism is important and there is a deeper message in the story 25 Filming Edit Principal photography began on September 24 2014 in Boston Massachusetts 26 and continued in October in Hamilton Ontario Filming took place at Fenway Park 27 the then current Boston Globe offices in Dorchester Boston 28 the Boston Public Library 29 and McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario 30 The film s editor Tom McArdle said of the post production process We edited for eight months We just wanted to keep refining the film We cut out five scenes plus some segments of other scenes Often we would just cut out a line or two to make a scene a little tighter 31 The Boston Police station depicted in the opening scene was filmed in Toronto at the former Toronto Police Service 11 Division station at 209 Mavety Street 32 and the former Sears building on Islington Avenue in Toronto was converted into a replica of the interior of the old Boston Globe where the bulk of the filming took place 33 Historical accuracy Edit The visual blog Information is Beautiful deduced that while taking creative license into account the film was 76 2 accurate when compared to real life events summarizing that the only conceits are scenes of power figures warning off the journalists 34 The film only depicts the events leading up to the publication of the Spotlight team s first article whereas the team actually continued publishing follow up reports for nearly two years afterward As a result certain events are depicted as having happened earlier than they actually did including the scene where former priest Ronald H Paquin freely admits to molesting children and having been molested himself 35 While Sacha Pfeiffer did indeed write the numerous follow up reports on Paquin the interview depicted in the film was a blend of two interviews conducted by her and Steve Kurkjian both of which took place about a month after the events in the film After the first story was published Kurkjian rejoined the Spotlight team he had been a founding member before becoming the Globe s Washington bureau chief to assist with further reporting on the abuses Pfeiffer and Kurkjian have said that the confession was a much more gradual process and Paquin did not just blurt it out the way he does in the film 35 36 A scene where Matt Carroll discovers one of the priest treatment centers is down the block from where he lives is based on an actual discovery he made during the investigation with one minor detail changed Carroll actually lived down the street from John Geoghan the priest whose case sparked the investigations This was changed as the filmmakers thought the image of Carroll putting Geoghan s photo on his refrigerator to warn his children would seem unrealistic 37 In a subplot Eric MacLeish claims he sent a list of 20 priests to the Globe in 1993 but the story was buried in Metro Robinson later admits he was the editor for Metro at the time and he likely overlooked the case While the Globe did publish an article about the list of 20 priests the Spotlight team did not learn this during their investigation MacLeish himself revealed the article s existence while being interviewed for the screenplay by McCarthy and Singer This revelation along with Robinson s response to the filmmakers inquiry was incorporated into the screenplay for dramatic purposes 38 Release EditThe film premiered to sustained applause at the Venice Film Festival and the audience erupted in laughter when the film reported that following the events in the film Cardinal Bernard Law was reassigned to a senior position of honor in Rome 9 It had a limited release on November 6 2015 with its U S release scheduled for three weeks later on November 25 39 Home media Edit Spotlight was released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment on DVD and Blu ray in the United States on February 23 2016 40 Reception EditBox office Edit Spotlight grossed 45 1 million in the United States and Canada and 53 2 million in other countries for a worldwide total of 98 3 million against a production budget of 20 million 3 The Hollywood Reporter calculated the film made a net profit of up to 10 million 41 In the opening weekend of its limited release the film grossed 295 009 from five theaters 59 002 average one of the highest per screen averages of any release of 2015 42 The film grossed 4 4 million in the first weekend during its wide release finishing 8th at the box office 43 Critical response Edit Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams performances received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively Spotlight received critical acclaim The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 97 based on 376 reviews with an average rating of 8 80 10 The website s summary of the critical consensus is that Spotlight gracefully handles the lurid details of its fact based story while resisting the temptation to lionize its heroes resulting in a drama that honors the audience as well as its real life subjects 44 On Metacritic the film has a score of 93 out of 100 based on 45 critics indicating universal acclaim 45 Variety s Justin Chang called the film a superbly controlled and engrossingly detailed account of the Boston Globe s Pulitzer Prize winning investigation into the widespread pedophilia scandals and subsequent cover ups within the Catholic Church 46 Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote To turn a spotlight fittingly on Spotlight it s the year s best movie so far and a rarity among countless dramatizations that claim to be based on actual events 47 Mark Kermode of The Guardian gave it 4 out of 5 stars and praised Ruffalo s performance writing As for Mark Ruffalo he s the closest thing this ensemble cast has to a star turn a long suppressed outburst of emotion providing one of the film s few grandstanding showstoppers 48 Helen O Hara of Empire gave the movie 4 out of 5 stars and called it a grown up film about serious people that mercifully escapes any awards grabbing platitudes and more thrilling than most action movies 49 Richard Propes of The Independent Critic gave Spotlight 4 out of 4 marks and praised the screenplay and cast Spotlight is a nearly perfect example of what happens when the perfect filmmaker works with the perfect script and acquires the perfect cast and crew to bring a story to life 50 At the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival Spotlight finished third in the audience balloting for the People s Choice Award 51 Comparing Spotlight to The Post a similar period film about journalists critic Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert com expressed perplexity over critics muted praise for the latter film writing that in terms of direction Spotlight got praise for doing a tenth of what Steven Spielberg does here 52 53 Top ten lists Edit Spotlight was included on many critics top ten lists 54 1st Peter Travers Rolling Stone 1st Christoper Orr The Atlantic 1st Bill Goodykoontz Arizona Republic 1st Lou Lumenick New York Post 1st Rex Reed New York Observer 1st Ty Burr Boston Globe 1st Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune 1st Stephanie Zacharek Time 1st Ann Hornaday The Washington Post 1st Kate Erbland Indiewire 1st Joe Morgenstern Wall Street Journal 2nd Peter Debruge Variety 2nd Christy Lemire RogerEbert com 3rd Scott Feinberg The Hollywood Reporter 3rd Rene Rodriguez Miami Herald 3rd Inkoo Kang TheWrap 3rd James Berardinelli Reelviews 3rd Richard Lawson Vanity Fair 3rd J R Jones Chicago Reader 3rd A O Scott and Stephen Holden The New York Times 4th Jake Coyle Associated Press 4th Connie Ogle Miami Herald 4th Josh Kupecki Austin Chronicle 5th Anne Thompson IndieWire 5th Kristopher Tapley Variety 5th Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle 6th David Edelstein New York Magazine 6th Joshua Rothkopf Time Out New York 7th Justin Chang Variety 8th Richard Roeper Chicago Sun Times 9th Alonso Duralde TheWrap 10th Alison Willmore BuzzFeed 10th Tom Brook BBC 10th Kyle Smith New York Post Top 10 listed alphabetically not ranked Stephen Whitty The Star Ledger Top 10 listed alphabetically not ranked Dana Stevens Slate com Top 10 listed alphabetically Steven Rea Philadelphia Inquirer Best of 2015 listed alphabetically not ranked Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times Reactions from the Catholic Church Edit In general the film was positively received by the Catholic community Before its release Cardinal Sean O Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston issued a statement in the archdiocese s official newspaper stating that the media s investigative reporting on the abuse crisis instigated a call for the Church to take responsibility for its failings and to reform itself to deal with what was shameful and hidden 55 O Malley had not seen the movie at that time but planned to do so 56 On November 9 2015 a review in the Catholic News Service called the film a generally accurate chronicle of the Boston scandal but objected to some of the portrayals and the film s view of the Church 57 On the Catholic News Service auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles Robert Barron said that it is not a bad movie as it shows how the wider community shares the responsibility for sexual abuse committed by priests but that the film is wrong to insinuate that the Church has not reformed 58 Vatican Radio the official radio service of the Holy See called it honest and compelling and said it helped the U S Catholic Church to accept fully the sin to admit it publicly and to pay all the consequences 59 Luca Pellegrini on the Vatican Radio website wrote that the Globe reporters made themselves examples of their most pure vocation that of finding the facts verifying sources and making themselves for the good of the community and of a city paladins of the need for justice 59 60 In February 2016 a Vatican City commission on clerical sex abuse attended a private screening of the film 61 Following the film s Best Picture win at the Oscars Vatican newspaper L Osservatore Romano ran a column assuring that it is not an anti Catholic film and Vatican Radio revealed that clerics in Rome have been recommending the film to each other 62 63 64 Criticism Edit A January 8 2016 article in The New York Times cited author David F Pierre Jr who said that Spotlight is a misrepresentation of how the Church dealt with sexual abuse cases asserting that the movie s biggest flaw was its failure to portray psychologists who had assured Church officials that abusive priests could be safely returned to ministry after undergoing therapy treatments Open Road Films rebutted the detractor saying he was perpetuating a myth in order to distract from real stories of abuse 65 The film was attacked by Jack Dunn played by Gary Galone the public relations head and a member of the board at Boston College High School for portraying him as callous and indifferent to the scandal Dunn says he was immediately aware of the issues involved and worked to respond after viewing the film 66 Two of the Globe reporters depicted in the film Walter Robinson and Sacha Pfeiffer issued a statement in response to Dunn firmly standing by their recollections of the day that Dunn did his best to frame a story in the most favorable way possible for the institution he is representing That s what Jack did that day They said Dunn mounted a spirited public relations defense of Boston College High School during our first sit down interview at the school in early 2002 the scene in which Dunn is depicted 67 On March 15 2016 Open Road Films released a statement on how Dunn was portrayed in the film As is the case with most movies based on historical events Spotlight contains fictionalized dialogue that was attributed to Mr Dunn for dramatic effect We acknowledge that Mr Dunn was not part of the Archdiocesan cover up It is clear from his efforts on behalf of the victims at BC High that he and the filmmakers share a deep mutual concern for victims of abuse 68 Dunn then also released a statement I feel vindicated by the public statement and relieved to have the record set straight on an issue that has caused me and my family tremendous pain While it will never erase the horrific experience of being falsely portrayed in an Academy Award winning film this public statement enables me to move forward with my reputation and integrity intact 68 Accolades EditMain article List of accolades received by Spotlight Spotlight has been critically acclaimed and has been included in many critics Top Ten Films of 2015 lists 69 The film has received over 100 industry and critics awards and nominations The American Film Institute selected Spotlight as one of the Top Ten Films of the year 70 The film garnered three Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Motion Picture Drama Best Director for McCarthy and Best Screenplay for McCarthy and Josh Singer 71 It was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature Best Director Best Screenplay for Singer Best Editing for Tom McArdle and Honorary Robert Altman Award for the cast 72 Rachel McAdams and the ensemble cast received nominations for the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role and the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture respectively with the cast winning the latter 73 The New York Film Critics Circle awarded Michael Keaton the Best Actor award 74 while it won the Best Picture Best Director Best Screenplay and Best Ensemble cast at the New York Film Critics Online Awards 75 Spotlight won the Best Film and Best Screenplay from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association It received eight nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Association including Best Film Best Director Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress Best Screenplay and Best Score 76 It won the Best Cast in a Motion Picture at Satellite Awards and was nominated for six other awards including Best Film Best Director Best Supporting Actor Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Screenplay 77 At the Academy Awards the film received six nominations including Best Picture Best Director Best Supporting Actor for Ruffalo Best Supporting Actress for McAdams Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing winning Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay It is the first Best Picture winner to win fewer than three Academy Awards since 1952 s The Greatest Show on Earth At the time of its win the film had made 39 2 million at the North American box office which made it the second lowest domestically grossing film adjusted for ticket price inflation to win Best Picture within the past four decades after The Hurt Locker with 17 million 78 Spotlight was listed on over 120 critics and publications top ten lists 69 It was also voted the 88th greatest film since 2000 in an international critics poll conducted by BBC 79 In 2018 IndieWire writers ranked its screenplay the 12th best American screenplay of the 21st century with Kate Erbland saying that the script ticks along so well not cutting any corners when it comes to the nitty gritty of real world reporting while also finding time to develop its characters and tell a banger of a story It hits the right beats but it does so in earned ways rooted in realism 80 See also Edit Catholicism portal Film portal Journalism portalCatholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal Catholic Church sexual abuse cases By the Grace of God a 2019 French Belgian film about three victims of clerical sexual abuse Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests SNAP All The President s Men a 1976 film portraying the Washington Post investigation into the Watergate scandal the overseer of the Post investigation Ben Bradlee is the father of Ben Bradlee Jr the overseer of the Globe investigation Post assault treatment of sexual assault victimsReferences Edit SPOTLIGHT 15 British Board of Film Classification October 27 2015 Retrieved October 27 2015 Jada Yuan November 3 2015 Watching the Watchers Tom McCarthy on Making Spotlight Vulture Retrieved November 7 2015 a b c Spotlight 2015 Box Office Mojo Retrieved July 22 2018 Siegel Tatiana August 8 2014 Mark Ruffalo Michael Keaton in Talks for Catholic Priest Sex Abuse Scandal Film The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved September 16 2014 a b c Participant Media s Spotlight Starring Mark Ruffalo Michael Keaton Rachel Mcadams Liev Schreiber And Stanley Tucci Goes To Camera In Boston Before Lensing In Toronto 3BL Media September 25 2014 Retrieved September 25 2014 Allen Scott June 22 2012 A distinguished history of digging up the truth Boston Globe Retrieved February 27 2015 The Pulitzer Prizes Citation Pulitzer org Retrieved June 11 2015 Sneider Jeff August 8 2014 Mark Ruffalo Michael Keaton Rachel McAdams in Talks to Star in Catholic Church Sex Scandal Drama Exclusive TheWrap Retrieved September 16 2014 a b Shanahan Mark September 3 2015 Spotlight gets glittering debut in Venice Boston Globe Retrieved November 7 2015 Toronto to open with Demolition world premieres for Trumbo The Program ScreenDaily July 28 2015 Retrieved July 28 2015 a b Shanahan Mark Goldstein Meredith September 16 2014 Mark Ruffalo visits the Globe The Boston Globe Retrieved September 16 2014 Shanahan Mark Goldstein Meredith August 11 2014 Report Globe Spotlight movie gets a cast The Boston Globe Retrieved September 25 2014 a b c d Siegel Tatiana Kit Borys August 27 2014 Billy Crudup in Talks for Catholic Church Sex Abuse Scandal Film Spotlight Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved September 16 2014 Brian d Arcy James Joins Boston Priest Pedophile Drama SPOTLIGHT Broadway World September 12 2014 Retrieved September 16 2014 Juul Matt September 26 2014 Spotlight Actors Spotted at Fenway Park The Boston Globe Retrieved September 26 2014 a b Siegemund Broka Austin September 25 2014 John Slattery Homeland Alum Join Catholic Sex Abuse Film Spotlight The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved September 25 2014 Shanahan Mark Goldstein Meredith September 29 2014 Spotlight films at The Boston Globe The Boston Globe Retrieved September 29 2014 Labrecque Jeff February 16 2016 How Spotlight cast the Voice of God and how the Church has or hasn t changed Entertainment Weekly Retrieved May 6 2016 Lombardi Kristen October 31 November 6 2003 Phil Saviano Founder of the local Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests Boston Phoenix Archived from the original on October 10 2015 Retrieved March 4 2016 Sanders Vicki March 2017 Going Once Going Twice Retrieved November 20 2020 Rosen Lisa December 22 2015 Four actors leave big impressions with small roles The Envelope Los Angeles Times Retrieved January 4 2018 Blyth Antonia February 6 2016 Spotlight s Tom McCarthy I Passed The First Time Deadline Hollywood Shanahan Mark Goldstein Meredith August 19 2014 Spotlight script tells the story of Globe series The Boston Globe Retrieved September 27 2014 Black List 2013 Full Screenplay List Deadline Hollywood December 16 2013 Retrieved January 6 2015 Iacovetti Carla January 25 2016 Spotlight The Burden of Truth Creative Screenwriting Retrieved January 26 2016 Juul Matt September 24 2014 Globe Spotlight Movie Holding Open Casting Call The Boston Globe Retrieved September 25 2014 Shanahan Mark Goldstein Meredith September 26 2014 Spotlight filming at Fenway Park The Boston Globe Retrieved September 30 2014 Conti Katheleen Globe s former home on Morrissey Blvd sold for 81 million The Boston Globe December 20 2017 Shanahan Mark Goldstein Meredith September 30 2014 Rachel McAdams reporting for duty The Boston Globe Retrieved September 30 2014 Ruffalo Tucci in Hamilton for Spotlight shoot CHCH News October 7 2014 Retrieved October 7 2014 Spotlight Editor Tom McArdle In Conversation Film Doctor February 18 2016 Retrieved February 18 2016 Reel Toronto Spotlight Torontoist January 21 2016 Retrieved January 21 2016 Spotlight s Set Designer on How He Perfectly Replicated the Boston Globe Building Slate November 12 2015 Retrieved November 12 2015 Based on a True True Story Scene by scene Breakdown of Hollywood Films Information Is Beautiful Retrieved July 28 2019 a b Laporte Nicole January 7 2016 The Real Reporters Behind Spotlight On Reliving The Facts And Accepting The Fiction Fast Company Retrieved June 2 2019 Vann Karine June 5 2019 PODCAST A Conversation with Journalist Stephen Kurkjian Podcast The Armenian Weekly Retrieved June 22 2019 Chou Sophie February 29 2016 Shining the Spotlight on Matt Carroll Medium Retrieved June 2 2019 Labrecque Jeff Spotlight players confront the clue that became the movie s key twist Entertainment Weekly Retrieved June 2 2019 D Alessandro Anthony June 10 2015 Michael Keaton Mark Ruffalo Boston Globe Film Spotlight Opens Nov 6 Deadline Hollywood Retrieved June 11 2015 Spotlight DVD and Blu ray releases com Retrieved March 4 2016 Pamela McClintock March 3 2016 And the Oscar for Profitability Goes to The Martian The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved September 14 2016 D Alessandro Anthony November 9 2015 Spectre 70 4M Opening Still 2nd Highest 007 Debut Behind Skyfall But Not That Far From Quantum Of Solace Monday AM Deadline Hollywood Retrieved November 10 2015 D Alessandro Anthony November 29 2015 Katniss On Track For 78M 80M 5 Day Good Dinosaur Eyes 58M 62M Creed Punching 39M 42M Deadline Hollywood Retrieved November 29 2015 Spotlight 2015 Rotten Tomatoes Fandango Media Retrieved February 4 2022 Spotlight Reviews Metacritic Chicago Illinois CBS Interactive Retrieved November 25 2015 Chang Justin September 3 2015 Venice Film Review Spotlight Variety Los Angeles California Penske Business Media Retrieved September 3 2015 Morgenstern Joe November 5 2015 Spotlight Review Blazingly Bright Fearlessly Focused Wall Street Journal Retrieved August 23 2020 Kermode Mark critic Observer film January 31 2016 Spotlight review exposing the sins of the fathers The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved August 23 2020 Spotlight Empire January 25 2016 Retrieved August 23 2020 The Independent Critic Spotlight is One of 2015 s Best Films theindependentcritic com Retrieved March 22 2021 Toronto International Film Festival Announces 2015 Award Winners PDF Press release Toronto International Film Festival September 20 2015 Retrieved September 21 2015 The second runner up is Tom McCarthy s Spotlight mattzollerseitz November 29 2017 Yes It s very strange that just because Spielberg isn t swooping the camera around a lot he s not directing his ass off The blocking in The Post is A old school SPOTLIGHT got praise for doing a tenth of what he does here Tweet Retrieved November 23 2020 via Twitter mattzollerseitz December 3 2018 Spotlight did very well for itself but it s true that the good ones films about journalists tend to get ignored Tweet Retrieved November 23 2020 via Twitter Best of 2015 Film Critic Top Ten Lists metacritic com Staff October 28 2015 Cardinal O Malley issues statement on the release of Spotlight film The Pilot Retrieved March 2 2016 Wangsness Lisa October 29 2015 Spotlight shows how church was impelled to act O Malley says Boston Globe Retrieved November 3 2015 Spotlight Catholic News November 9 2015 Archived from the original on March 6 2016 Barron Robert November 17 2015 Bishop Robert Barron gives his take on new Spotlight film YouTube Archived from the original on November 2 2021 Retrieved February 29 2016 a b Allen Jr John October 23 2015 Vatican Radio praises movie on Boston Globe coverage of clergy abuse Crux Retrieved November 3 2015 Pellegrini Luca September 4 2015 A Venezia il film sulla pedofilia nella diocesi di Boston in Italian Retrieved December 1 2015 Kington Tom February 4 2016 Vatican panel kicks off meeting on sexual abuse by watching Spotlight Los Angeles Times Retrieved February 6 2016 Scaraffia Lucetta February 29 2016 It s not an anti Catholic film L Osservatore Romano Retrieved March 2 2016 Coggan Devan February 29 2016 Vatican newspaper praises Spotlight says it s not anti Catholic Entertainment Weekly Retrieved February 29 2016 San Martin Ines February 29 2016 Vatican Radio newspaper praise Spotlight as courageous Crux Retrieved February 29 2016 Cieply Michael January 8 2016 Before the Oscars Some Films Face the Truth Test The New York Times New York City Retrieved January 9 2016 Muldoon Tim November 27 2015 Spotlight Reveals Sexual Abuse But Misrepresents a Good Man Aleteia Retrieved November 30 2015 Dunn was also the head of public relations for Boston College Encarnacao Jack November 26 2015 Globe reporters defend portrayal of Jack Dunn in movie Boston Herald Retrieved November 30 2015 The scene depicts a fairly common exchange involving reporters who have unpleasant questions to ask and a skilled public relations person doing his best to frame a story in the most favorable way possible for the institution he is representing That s what Jack did that day a b Gettell Oliver March 15 2016 Jack Dunn feels vindicated by Open Road Spotlight statement Entertainment Weekly New York City Meredith Corporation Retrieved March 15 2016 a b Best of 2015 Film Critic Top Ten Lists Metacritic Retrieved December 15 2015 Here Are the AFI AWARDS 2015 Official Selections American Film Institute December 16 2015 Retrieved December 16 2015 Golden Globe Nominations The Complete List The Hollywood Reporter December 10 2015 Retrieved December 10 2015 Carol Spotlight Beasts of No Nation Lead Spirit Awards Nominations Variety November 24 2015 Retrieved November 24 2015 SAG Awards Nominations Complete List Variety December 9 2015 Retrieved December 10 2015 Carol Takes Top Honors at New York Film Critics Awards The Wall Street Journal December 2 2015 Retrieved December 4 2015 New York Film Critics Online Name Spotlight Best Film of the Year Variety December 6 2015 Retrieved December 8 2015 Critics Choice Award Nominations Led by Mad Max Fargo Variety December 14 2015 Retrieved December 14 2015 2015 nominees International Press Academy Retrieved December 12 2015 Tom Huddleston Jr February 23 2015 Birdman is one of the lowest grossing Oscar Best Picture winners ever Fortune BBC S 100 Greatest Movies of the 21st Century BBC August 23 2016 Retrieved January 26 2017 Dry Jude O Falt Chris Erbland Kate Kohn Eric Sharf Zack Marotta Jenna Thompson Anne Earl William Nordine Michael Ehrlich David April 20 2018 The 25 Best American Screenplays of the 21st Century From Eternal Sunshine to Lady Bird IndieWire Retrieved February 4 2021 External links EditSpotlight film at Wikipedia s sister projects Media from Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Data from Wikidata Official website Spotlight at IMDb Spotlight at AllMovie Spotlight at Rotten Tomatoes The story behind the Spotlight movie from The Boston Globe Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Spotlight film amp oldid 1131223709, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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