Friday Film Noir
Spotlight (2015) is a drama directed by Tom McCarthy and written by McCarthy and Josh Singer. The film follows the investigative journalists of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team as they uncover systemic sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and the institutional efforts to conceal it. New editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) encourages reporters Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams), and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) to pursue court records that reveal a pattern of protected priests. As the investigation expands, the team confronts resistance from church officials, legal barriers, and the weight of a story rooted deeply in the city’s culture. The reporting gradually exposes the scale of the cover-up and forces the paper to decide when and how to publish findings that will have lasting consequences.
Filmed primarily in Boston, the production made extensive use of real locations and buildings tied directly to the Globe’s reporting history. Many scenes were shot inside the actual Boston Globe building, allowing actors to work in the same physical space where the reporting took place. Mark Ruffalo spent time with Michael Rezendes, observing his mannerisms, speech patterns, and approach to sourcing information, while avoiding direct imitation. Rachel McAdams met with Sacha Pfeiffer to understand how she conducted interviews with victims and maintained professional distance during emotionally charged conversations. Real court documents and reporting notes were used as reference materials on set. Members of the actual Spotlight team served as consultants throughout production and reviewed early cuts for accuracy. At the Oscars, Spotlight earned six nominations and won two: Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.
