FILM OF THE WEEK: Spotlight (15) ****

Coverage of the scandal rippled far beyond the city and compelled other victims to come forward, which sent shockwaves through the Roman Catholic Church.

The newspaper was subsequently awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in Journalism for its courageous and comprehensive coverage, which lifted a heavy veil of secrecy stretching back several decades.

Thomas McCarthy’s impeccably-crafted drama pays tribute to the team of tenacious editors and reporters who tirelessly pursued the ugly truth and wrung their sweat and tears into the exposes.

Deputy Managing Editor Ben Bradlee Jr (John Slattery) presides over the Boston Globe newsroom and has direct responsibility for the Spotlight team led by Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson (Michael Keaton).

Down in the basement, Robby and colleagues Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy) invest thousands of man hours following leads.

Their work is valuable, but costly, and incoming Boston Globe editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) makes clear he is willing to make difficult cuts.

The team is mired in a potentially explosive story.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) claims to have documents which prove Cardinal Bernard Law (Len Cariou) knew about abuse within the diocese and did nothing.

Marty authorises Robby to quietly pursue the story before he is personally summoned to a meeting with the Cardinal.

‘I find that this city flourishes when its great institutions work together,’ purrs the holy man.

Battle lines are drawn and Robby pleads with his writers to keep their emotions in check as they are confronted with horrific stories of shattered innocence.

Spotlight is a clinical, precise and riveting dramatisation of a bloody war of words in a city in the thrall of the church.

The ensemble cast are exemplary with Ruffalo gifted the film’s stand-out scene of unfettered indignation that undoubtedly secured him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor.

Some of the characters don’t feel fully-formed, sacrificed perhaps in favour of a forensic pursuit of the facts.

The script crackles with tension and as the printing presses of The Globe begin to roll, we visibly relax.