Spotlight

“if it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one.” wow. this is powerful, to say the absolute least. to see the work these journalists put forth to publish this critically important work, how they brought light to something that had been hidden for so long is deeply moving. to know by the film’s end that those who committed these crimes have faced virtually no repercussions is devastating, but not surprising if you have any understanding of how society tends to treat victims of sexual abuse. amazing performances by the entire cast, and the direction is phenomenal, especially in how it makes clear to the audience how all-encompassing and present the threat of this specific type of trauma is in the boston area, with shots and scenes emphasizing how close children are to pedophilic priests at any given moment. that list of cities where similar scandals have been unearthed hit me like a ton of bricks. it just kept going and going. my own home of dallas stared me in my eyes from the list onscreen and brought me to tears. children need to be protected constantly, at all costs, and yet, they often are hurt the most by those who should be most trustworthy. as a future journalist, this is exactly the type of important work you dream of, but in the case of someone like cardinal law, sometimes no matter what you do the evil will prosper. i never write particularly long or serious reviews here, but this film deserves it.