Cinema is not just entertainment: it often digs deep with even uncomfortable stories that make power tremble.
There are films that remain etched in the memory not just because they are well madebut also because they turn out to be a necessity. The Spotlight case continues to speak in the present, in an era in which trust in information is fragile and the word “investigation” has once again become dangerous territory.
With this thought, cinema in recent decades has committed itself to breaking the mould with films that tell the power of investigation, the price paid by those who insist and the impact that an article, a source or a document can have on society. The Spotlight case remains the point of reference, but it is not alone.
The Spotlight case and the other films that tell what they want to keep in the shadows
Released in 2015 and directed by Tom McCarthythe film reconstructs the investigation of Boston Globe on sexual abuse covered by the Archdiocese of Boston. Without dwelling too much on the twists and turns and without highlighting the solitary hero, the film highlights the patient work of an editorial team that cross-references data, listens to the victims and resists pressure. Its strength lies right here: in the sober transposition of an investigation that forever changed the relationship between the Church, the media and public opinion.
Truth – The price of truth: If Spotlight tells the story of the success of an investigation, Truth focuses on a fall. The film follows the “Killian documents” case and Mary Mapes’ work at CBS, showing how haste, political pressure and gray areas on sources can overturn a scoop.
The Post: Steven Spielberg returns to the Seventies to tell the story of the publication of the Pentagon Papers. At the center there is a very important decision: whether or not to publish top secret documents in defiance of the United States government. The Post stages the moment in which the investigation becomes a political and moral choice, underlining the role of the press as a democratic defense.
Zodiac: With this film the investigation becomes obsessive, incomplete, without a real conclusion. David Fincher recounts the work of journalists and investigators dealing with an unsolved case, showing the darkest side of the investigation: the one that consumes those who carry it out and does not guarantee definitive answers.
All the President’s Men: The Watergate film remains a cinema lesson on journalism, with Woodward and Bernstein symbolizing a press that undermines power piece by piece. Without this film, The Spotlight Affair as we know it probably wouldn’t even exist.
She Said: The story closest to us in time. The New York Times investigation into Harvey Weinstein becomes a film that dialogues directly with Spotlight: same attention to sources, same respect for the victims, same awareness of the social impact of a story published at the right time.
