Oscar fever is only few days away and the three movies which could possibly break the barriers are The Big Short, The Revenant, and The Martian. Although, there’s a possibility that Leonardo DiCaprio could win for the best lead actor but Matt Damon for The Martian is all in for the big fight. And Mark Rylance for the Bridge of Spies could possibly be the winner for the supporting lead. In the midst of all this, one story that needs to be told and should win big is Spotlight. The one story that brings the falsehood of faith down to its knees. This couldn’t have been possible in 1993 as the Boston Globe then missed the biggest hidden scandal due to its oversight.

In 2001, a new editor named Martin Baron (played by Liev Shrieber) joined the news daily and asked for a follow-up on a column highlighting the pedophilic activities involving a priest. A team of investigative journalists named Spotlight was asked to start digging into the matter. The pattern of the cases involving child abuse done by priests outgrew to a number close to 90 alone in the Boston, Masachusettes. Those were not the cases in isolation but involved directions by the Church. The story revealed that the Archbishop of Boston knew about the incidents and just shuffled the priests to different churches to subside the matter. That story could have been broken during 9/11 attacks but the Church wholeheartedly lended its moral support to the victims. The team waited for an year to let go of the incidence of 9/11 and start with the publication. In 2002, the story got published and the larger picture involving the biggest hidden scandal started to reveal itself. The number of victims were large in number and the cases were not only confined to Boston. Similar worldwide cases popped-up during the follow-up on the story. The movie ends with a list of places with similar cases. And of course, you could see India on that list too.

With the impact so great, how could you even miss to appreciate the story such as this. Although I have watched The Revenant, The Martian, and The Big Short but I would still go with the Spotlight to be the winner for the best movie or at least for the best adapted screenplay. In my opinion, Leonardo DiCaprio seems to be the most obvious choice for the best actor and The Big Short for the original screenplay. Best cinematography should be reserved for Mad Max: Fury Road, and Mark Rylance must win for the best supporting actor.

There’s a game out on the Internet to enable Leonardo win big at the Oscar. Let’s all pray then. 🙂