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The story
The true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer97%Fresh#10 of 98 winnersIMDb8.1542K votes#25 of 98 winners
Metacritic93/ 100#16 of 93 winners
TMDB7.8/ 10
Famous lines
Mark my words, Mr. Rezendes. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one.
They knew and they let it happen! To KIDS! Okay? It could have been you, it could have been me, it could have been any of us.
This is how it happens, isn't it Pete? Guy leans on a guy. And suddenly the whole town just looks the other way.
Sometimes it's easy to forget that we spend most of our time stumbling around the dark. Suddenly, a light gets turned on and there's a fair share of blame to go around.
Matt Carroll: They got a word for everything, these guys.
Sacha Pfeiffer: Hmm. Except "rape."
We gotta show people that nobody can get away with this; Not a priest, or a cardinal or a freaking pope!
Ben Bradlee Jr.: Sounds like we're going after Law.
Marty Baron: We're going after the system.
Cardinal Law: I find that the city flourishes when its great institutions work together.
Marty Baron: Thank you. Personally I'm of the opinion that for a paper to best perform its function, it really needs to stand alone.
They say it's just physical abuse but it's more than that, this was spiritual abuse.
Mike Rezendes: Six percent is 90.
Walter 'Robby' Robinson: 90 priests?
Ben Bradlee Jr.: If there were 90 of these bastards, people would know.
Mike Rezendes: Maybe they do.
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- Vatican Radio called the film "honest" and "compelling," and a Vatican commission on clerical sex abuse attended a private screening. After the Oscar win, L'Osservatore Romano insisted it was "not an anti-Catholic film."Wikipedia · Reactions from the Catholic Church
- At its Venice Film Festival premiere, the audience "erupted in laughter" at the closing title card revealing that Cardinal Bernard Law had been reassigned to a senior position of honor in Rome.Wikipedia · Release
- In real life, Globe reporter Matt Carroll lived down the street from abusive priest John Geoghan himself and posted Geoghan's photo on his fridge. The film changed it to a treatment center because the filmmakers thought audiences would not believe it.Wikipedia · Historical accuracy
- While being interviewed for the screenplay, lawyer Eric MacLeish revealed that the Globe had published a 1993 article about a list of 20 priests, which the Spotlight team never learned about during the investigation. The filmmakers wrote it into the script.Wikipedia · Historical accuracy
- Spotlight was the first Best Picture winner since The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) to win only one other Oscar, and it remains the last Best Picture winner without a directing or acting award.Wikipedia · Accolades
- The bulk of filming took place in a former Sears building on Islington Avenue in Toronto, converted into a replica of the old Boston Globe newsroom.Wikipedia · Filming
- Jack Dunn, a Boston College High School official, objected to how he was portrayed. Distributor Open Road Films later issued a statement admitting his dialogue was fictionalized for dramatic effect and that he was not part of the Archdiocesan cover-up.Wikipedia · Criticism
- Tom McCarthy initially turned the project down, finding the material intimidating. The script he and Josh Singer finished in 2013 went on to the Black List of the best unproduced screenplays.Wikipedia · Writing
- Former priest Ronald Paquin's casual confession in the film blends two interviews by Sacha Pfeiffer and Steve Kurkjian that happened about a month later. The reporters said he did not just "blurt it out" as he does on screen.Wikipedia · Historical accuracy
- Bryan Cranston was offered a role in Spotlight but turned it down because of scheduling conflicts with The Infiltrator, a decision he later said he regretted.Wikipedia · Casting