On One of the Most Deserving Best Picture Winners with Spotlight

When The Revenant won an Oscar for Best Director, it felt right to reward the technically impressive Western, revenge picture. However, the thought of The Revenant winning Best Picture felt just a little incongruous as when you strip it down to its narrative, this is a simple story, built around simple characters, all well executed. 

Yet, Spotlight, Tom McCarthy's exploration of the Boston's Globe story on abuse and corruption within the Catholic Church is a deserved Best Picture winner. This is difficult subject matter and a narrative that requires attention and demands respect. These are qualities that you would expect any film being rewarded such a high honour to possess and with Spotlight, we will not be looking back in 10 years on this as an undeserving winner, in the way we speak about Braveheart (1995) for example.  

Spotlight is quietly terrifying, both in relation to how endemic the abuse was within the Catholic institution and how powerful the church is in being able to make such allegations disappear from public interrogation. This is why Spotlight is so important and why it is so important that it win Best Picture. For the record, Philomena (2013) does a great job in making a similar criticism. The Catholic Church should be open to interrogation and probing and as answerable in the same way government is (in an ideal world). Yet, it closes itself behind a heavy door of history, claiming a greater sense of itself for having inventing it. That a film that is explicitly about this corruption can win the most coveted film award and be critical against an institution that is well practised in covering up their faults is important. For these reasons, and many more that are on screen, Spotlight is one of the most deserving Best Picture wins.