By Muhammad Muzammal - Arts and Entertainment Assistant Editor

Recalling classic journalism films of the 1970s, “All the President’s Men” and “Network,” Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight” is a powerful moral thriller about the investigative powers of journalism and the value of a moral argument against authority.

Based on the story behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of the Catholic Church in 2003 that revealed several sex abuse cases, “Spotlight” takes place in the busy newspaper offices of The Boston Globe and the streets of Boston.

Lead reporter Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton), with his team of all-star reporters, Michael Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy Adams) investigate the Catholic Church in light of recent accusations of sexual abuse.

As Robinson and his “Spotlight” team uncover one case, it leads them into another case, then another and another, until the entire investigation becomes a disturbing rabbit hole where several affected adults come forward with anecdotes of childhood sexual abuse they experienced within the church.

With screenwriter Ben Singer, McCarthy assembles “Spotlight” much like the “Spotlight” team assembles their investigation – with a firm directness and a keen eye for truth. McCarthy’s film stands out from its current day journalism film counterparts and other movies of its genre by honoring the victims of the horrible crimes and making their stories heard.

McCarthy smartly does not lionize the lead reporters in the film, and so ironically the heroes become more heroic. McCarthy’s reporters are not investigative gods or emotionally cold experts. Instead, they are human beings genuinely disturbed by the activities of the Catholic Church.

Consider Rezendes, played so vulnerably by Ruffalo, who gives a career-best performance as a reporter always walking the thin line between anger and focus. Rezendes, who begins the film with a skin as tough as nails, becomes more and more sickened as the film progresses, showing the grueling process behind investigating such a story, which leads into one of the strongest themes in “Spotlight.” The film places writers at its forefront, and by showing the daunting process behind obtaining a story as horrid as the sexual abuse cases, the film values the power of the pen.

With that power comes writing the piece itself. As the reporters uncover the truth of the church, they realize just how many people knew about the cases, but failed to report them or swept them under the table like it was nothing.

McCarthy’s film, which is clearly disturbed by the Catholic Church’s denial of these cases, tries to remind us that things of this nature may happen even in our own neighborhood. The importance is not to deny or stand by and watch, but to find a solution to it all.