The film “Spotlight” by director, Thomas McCarthy, narrates the real story of a group of journalists from the Boston Globe (the “spotlight” team) who revealed the sexual abuse of children by priests from the Boston Archdiocese. The film (which was released in the U.S. on Nov. 6, 2015) stars Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Brian d’Arcy James and Rachel McAdams, as the four journalists that carried out the investigation: Editor Walter “Robby” Robinson, and reporters Michael Rezendes, Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer. The story unfolds in 2001 as the journalists decide to follow up on the case of Rev. John J. Geoghan, who abused children for decades with the church’s knowledge. While working on this, the journalists realize that Geoghan was not the only one involved, and that the issue that they are dealing with is much bigger than they thought.

It begins in 1976 with a scene of two children innocently coloring while waiting to be interviewed by a lawyer. The police and the people in charge make sure that the case gets no media coverage. Soon after, the movie forwards to the year 2001 where the spotlight reporters are barely getting started on the journey to uncover the crimes committed by the church. The spectator then follows the group of journalists as they interview former victims and church officials, unseal legal documents, and learn of the systemic abuse undergone by numerous children.

The film gives a documentary-like feeling without completely detaching from the emotional side of the story; it does an amazing job of showing not only the harshness and the pain that the victims go through during and after the abuse, but also how the church’s major officials such as cardinals and bishops were aware of the perpetrators behavior and responded to it by simply transferring them from one parish to another. Just as shocking is the victims’ parents’ behavior who, most of the time, refused to go public; as it is portrayed in the film, parents were often pressured to stay quiet not just by church officials but by other parishioners. Just as it is said by one of the film’s characters, the story indeed confirms that, “It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to abuse one.” In other words, the story is not simply about a man who abused children but about the system that never brought justice to the victims and that allowed the abuse to continue for decades.

Along with the disturbing chapter of the Catholic Church’s history that the movie reveals, it also contains excellent performances by its actors. In this way, the spectator gets to experience the same feelings of disbelief, disillusion and frustration that the main characters do. The film is over two hours long but the plot is so captivating and detailed that, at the end, the spectator still wants to see more. It is definitely a must watch, for it reveals that abuse can occur wherever inequality and imbalance of power exist.