Spotlight

I am not a very spiritual person, or belive in anything unless i can connect with it. I was born a christian, and i suppose i still am. The difference is that i belive in many things, so you won´t see me reading the bible very often. I have nothing against people who are christians, catholics, muslims, or any other kind of religion. But i am very strict when it comes to priests or pastors who sexually assault children. This is one of the things that really makes me angry. In my world, a priest is supposed to make people feel safe, and make everyone feel welcome to their church. There are good priests out there, i have met some who take their job seriously. Unfortunately, since many churches hides the truth, peoples lives fall apart. So when you hear on the news about new victims, where children have been sexually molested, you just want it all to stop. There are plenty of documentary films, where they have digged deeper into the truth of specific churches, and molestation cases. One of the best documentary films i have seen on this subject is called Deliver Us From Evil. The story of Catholic priest Oliver O´Grady, and all the victims he sexually abused for many years, is really disturbing. The church did nothing to stop him, they just replaced him so he could molest more children. I highly recommend that you do see this documentary film. It is very emotional, you will be sad, angry, and it will make you think for a long time. When it comes to films, there are 2 that i have to mention that brings up the subject of pedophiles. The Woodsman and Little Children, both very emotional films in different ways. Little Children is the best of these 2 films, where Jackie Earle Haley did one of his best performances in his career so far. The Woodsman is still a very good drama, and one of the best performances i have ever seen Kevin Bacon do. Let´s talk about molestation in church again. Does many of you remember the news scandal that happened in Boston during the year 2003 ? Almost a hundred catholic priests were discovered, for molesting children during many years, just in Boston. A news team called Spotlight, who worked on the newspaper The Boston Globe were the ones who found out the truth, and the whole world was shocked, angry and forced the Catholic church to answer. It was a moment where we all understood, that some churches decides not to stay by the law, and go their own way, and make things even worse. This story is now made into a film, and have both a great cast, and a very interesting plot. Based on the true story, of what happened in Boston in 2003, is this as good as i was hoping it would be, or should this have been a much stronger film than what we got ?

The Boston Globe is a well known newspaper, with many hard working journalists. The newspaper hires the new editor Marty Byron ( Liev Schreiber ). Marty holds a meeting with Walter " Robby " Robinson ( Michael Keaton ), who is the editor for the Spotlight team. He is interested to see how they work on different stories. This is a small group of journalists, who works months to write investigating articles. When Marty reads a Globe column, about a lawyer named Mitchell Garabedian ( Stanley Tucci ), he is shocked to read that Cardinal Bernard Law ( Len Cariou ), the Archbishop Of Boston, knew that priest John Geoghan sexually abused many children, and did nothing to stop him. Marty gather the Spotlight team, and tell them to dig deeper into this story. Journalists Michael Rezendes ( Mark Ruffalo ) and Sacha Pfeiffer ( Rachel McAdams ) begin to find research material, and anything they can find about certain priests, who worked with John Geoghan. As they Spotlight team digs deeper, the pattern shows that even more priests seem to be involved in molesting children. This article could change the city of Boston, but the question is, will the truth come out ?

Before i went to the cinema to see Spotlight, i had a feeling that this would be a very good film. And you know what ? This is one of the best films i have seen this year so far. The true story of all the catholic priests who molested children for many years in Boston, made me angry. Just to hear that the Catholic church did nothing to make these priests stop, is really sickening. Once you hear the numbers, of how many pedophiles that were free in Boston churches, makes you wonder what the hell is going on. Why did not anyone react to protect every single child ? Why did not one single church go out and helped any of the victims ? Spotlight focuses mostly on the team called Spotlight, a small group of journalists on The Boston Globe newspaper. Their discovery of the catholic church, made reactions worldwide back in 2003. One of the biggest strengths of this film, is the acting. Michael Keaton proves once again how fantastic he is at making a strong character, Mark Ruffalo also delivers a really strong performance. Rachel McAdams give us one of her best performances so far in her career. Director Tom McCarthy have directed 2 really good films in the past, The Station Agent and The Visitor. He also directed The Cobbler with Adam Sandler. Now, to go from The Cobbler, and make such a great film as Spotlight is incredible. This is without a doubt the best film director Tom McCarthy have directed so far. He really manage to deliver the message, of what the Spotlight team did to find the truth of the Catholic church, in Boston. The cinematography manage to capture the Boston feeling, and you feel the hard work that the Spotlight team had to do, to let the truth come out. You soon realise how well these churches protect themselves, and hide behind the church walls. Spotlight is based on a true story, so you pretty much know what happened, if you followed the case at the time. Even though we don´t get any unexpected twists, Spotlight manage to build tensions as these journalists finds out more shocking details. Director Tom McCarthy have made a film that should be seen by as many people as possible. We have to alert people, that pedophiles are everywhere around us. Spotlight shows that some churches think they are above the law, and make their own rules. When it comes to disturbing crimes, you can´t protect people who destroy kids lifes forever. I am so happy that Spotlight won the Oscar for best motion picture, maybe more people will finally step out and speak the truth. Any church who protect pedophiles must act and do what is right. No child should be molested, and this has to stop. Everyone, worldwide, go and see Spotlight in a cinema near you, this is a film you will never forget.

Rating: DDDD