The first trailer for director/co-writer Tom McCarthy’s (The Station Agent) upcoming drama Spotlight has been released online. The film tells the true story behind the Boston Globe reporters who investigated and exposed the Catholic Church’s systemic cover-up of sexual abuse. It's one of the biggest stories of the 21st century, and McCarthy's dramatization of the effort looks fantastic. Not only has he assembled a brilliant ensemble to bring this team of reporters to life, but he's not tiptoeing around any issues here. Dodgy Boston accents aside, this really feels like a classic 70s thriller in the vein of All the President's Men, and it's absolutely one of my most anticipated films of the year.

Watch the trailer below, via Open Road Films. The film stars Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Brian d’Arcy James, John Slattery, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, and Billy Crudup. Spotlight will premiere at the Venice Film Festival and screen at the Toronto International Film Festival, and opens in theaters on November 6th.


Here’s the official synopsis for Spotlight:

Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schrieber, Brian D’Arcy James and Stanley Tucci, SPOTLIGHT tells the riveting true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the world’s oldest and most trusted institutions. When the newspaper’s tenacious “Spotlight” team of reporters delve into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston's religious, legal, and government establishment, touching off a wave of revelations around the world. Directed by Academy Award-nominee Thomas McCarthy, SPOTLIGHT is a tense investigative thriller, tracing the steps to one of the biggest crime stories in modern times.

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Image via Open Road Films