Spotlight

[CTRLZero]

We've watched the real-life horror of this story play out nationally and in our local area (Seattle).  As one of the conditions following the divorce of his parents, my husband was enrolled in private school for a few years under the tender care of the nuns.  As the only non-christian child in a Catholic school, he did not fare well, but he got off relatively lightly with a few beatings and lots of pressure and put-downs from the clergy.  He turned out well.

So, on to the movie.  I really recommend watching this to see how cover-ups on a local, national and international basis can happen.  Religion is a powerful institution.  We all know that here, but it's very well illustrated in this movie.  It's a difficult subject, but the movie doesn't show actual abuse (I was afraid of this going in).  We had just finished watching actress Rachel McAdams in State of Play, and here she plays another reporter on the Boston Globe "Spotlight" team.  The script is good; the actors are superb.

At the end of the movie, pages of cities and institutions scroll by illustrating the sheer number of abusive priests that were in the system.  My husband was horrified to see the name of a boarding school that he believes his father might have spent time in.  Since his memory is dim, he is doing research to find out more about this school.  It is stunning what has come to light about this particular school and how many people knew about it.  My late father-in-law was a very troubled man, and we speculate that his time in this hellhole may have contributed to his mental state.