Although not in any way what you might call a “crowd pleaser”, Spotlight nonetheless is an engrossing, powerful film that examines important issues in a respectful and compelling way. Spotlight tells the true story of the Boston Globe reporting team known as Spotlight who discovers the disturbing scandal involving Catholic priests who molested children and then were moved to new locations in a widespread cover-up.

What I loved most about this film is how it showed real journalism, feet on the street, deep digging, critical thought, skepticism against the system, willingness to tread into dangerous paths. Pretty much everything missing from mainstream journalism today. Along with the joy of seeing journalism so perfectly depicted, we get some absolutely amazing performances from Michael Keaton and probably Mark Ruffalo’s best role to date. It’s a tough watch because the truth is so disturbing but this is a great film. I don’t think this will make my top 10 best of the year list (like it has nearly everyone else’s) but it’s excellent.