A new movie about a media investigation into child abuse in the Catholic Church in Boston is said to be “gunning for [an] Oscar [award]”.
The first trailer for the drama “Spotlight”, directed and co-written by Tom McCarthy, has been released.
The movie, distributed by Open Road Films, tells the true story behind the Boston Globe’s investigation into child abuse in the Catholic Church.
The group of journalists won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2003 after uncovering the Boston archdiocese’s widespread cover-up of sexual abuse.
“West Wing” scribe Josh Singer co-wrote the film, which has already generated plenty of awards buzz.
The Globe’s reporting eventually led to the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law, who had hidden years of abuse by other priests, and yielded other revelations of molestation and cover-ups around the world.
Michael Keaton stars alongside Rachel McAdams, John Slattery, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci.
Billy Crudup plays a church representative trying to shut the investigation down.
“We’ve got two stories here,” says Keaton as Walter “Robby” Robinson, the editor of the Globe’s Spotlight investigations team.
“A story about degenerate clergy and a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry. Which story do you want us to write? Because we’re writing one of them.”
“Spotlight” will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, and will also screen at the Toronto Film Festival.
It will be released in cinemas in the US in November.
Sources
- Variety
- The Guardian
- Image: The Guardian