In this analysis, we break down the first 30 pages of Spotlight, which tells the story of how a team of journalists from the Boston Globe uncovered child abuse within the Catholic Church and the complicity of the archdiocese…

Director: Tom McCarthy

Screenwriters: Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy

Script source: Script Slug

*Heavy spoilers throughout the following article*

Note about the breakdown: We based our narrative breakdown on the screenplay linked to above. You will find some differences in the finished film.

Opening (pages 1-3):

Spotlight hooks us from the start by opening with a short sequence that immediately shows us (rather than tells us about) the issues that will impact the main characters and put obstacles in the way of their pursuit of the truth.

The sequence takes place in a police station in December 1976. Two cops are talking about an interview involving Father Geoghan and a distraught mother, who we learn is divorced with four young kids. An assistant district attorney arrives. We then move to the interview room, where a bishop is assuring the mother “this will never happen again”.

Note: How much exposition is revealed through conversation between a young naïve cop and his older colleagues: a senior cop and the DA. When the young cop muses that it’ll be difficult to keep the arraignment out of the newspapers, the older one simply replies, ‘What arraignment?’ He knows the complaint isn’t going to lead to a trial.

The sequence ends with the bishop and Geoghan exiting the police station.

So, we know:

• there is a serious problem involving young children and a priest “helping out”
• the church hierarchy steps in to make the problem go away
• the authorities aren’t going to pursue the matter
• the priest is free to go and continue his work in the neighbourhood

As will be continually emphasised, the problem is two-fold:

1. child abuse by priests

2. the cover-up of that abuse

First act (page 3-18):

We jump forward to the Boston Globe newsroom in 2001, where we meet the main characters. These include deputy managing editor, Ben Bradlee, Jr (son of the Washington Post editor in charge during the Pentagon Papers and Watergate stories) and Walter ‘Robby’ Robinson, who we soon find out heads up the Spotlight team (a small investigative unit of Globe reporters).

Two key pieces of exposition are casually revealed at this point through Robby’s speech at an office send-off for a colleague. We learn that a new editor is about to take over the paper and that Robby is a long-term fixture at the Globe. Robby’s longevity at the newspaper and his deep roots in the city of Boston are an important source of conflict as the story progresses.

We then meet the other members of the Spotlight team – Sacha Pfeiffer, Matt Carroll and Mike Rezendes – who work out of cramped offices away from the main newsroom. Mike is doggedly pursuing a source over the phone, revealing a key character trait.

Note: What the desks of the reporters reveal about their characters, i.e. Matt’s photos of his young family, Sacha’s neat stack of books, and Mike’s disorganised clutter.

Robby enters and, with the team together, we get a sense of the dynamics between the Spotlight reporters – friendly, committed, respectful, easy-going.

Importantly, we learn a little more about the new editor – Marty Baron. Firstly that he’s coming from Miami. Indeed, Mike quips that maybe they should buy him a map of Boston. Secondly, we learn he was not averse to making cuts to the staff at his previous paper. So, we know he’s an outsider who isn’t afraid of taking a hard-line, suggesting there will be pressure on the Spotlight team to produce results. This foreshadows Baron’s objective role in the child abuse investigation.

Note: How Mike’s grilling of Robby about the new boss underscores his tenaciousness and reporting talent. Also note how Baron’s supposed weakness as a stranger who doesn’t know his way around this new ‘world’ of Boston becomes a strength. Likewise, the ‘insiders’, such as Robby, find their intimacy with this world a weakness as they are forced to confront its key institutions.

In the next scene, we meet Baron, as he has lunch with Robby.

Note: Baron reading Curse of the Bambino, a book about Boston Red Sox folklore written by a Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy – Baron’s a stranger in town getting up to speed.

The exchange between Robby and Baron is important here. It introduces and underscores a key conflict in the story – the relationship of the characters with Boston, i.e., insiders vs outsiders. Indeed, Robby lets Baron (and us) know that the Globe has the feel of a local paper, given that so many of the staff are from the area.

As the story develops, we find out how deep the roots run and how they are intrinsically linked to the Catholic Church, which becomes relevant when the Globe goes after the archdiocese. Note how the writers constantly emphasise this aspect of the story.

Through their conversation, exposition is revealed about Spotlight’s work – taking months to choose a story and pursuing it for up to a year, working separately from the rest of the paper, reporting to Bradlee.

Baron is taken aback by the lengthy process and suggests more cuts might be necessary in his quest to make the Globe “essential” to its readers. Robby tersely replies that, as far as he’s concerned, it already is essential.

Note: The development of Baron as a character. His note-taking, his slight awkwardness, his interest in the business side of the paper, his aversion to baseball – all of this suggests he is a serious newsman who understands the editorial process and is alive to the commercial considerations of running a city paper but maintains an emotional distance.

There is then a short scene between Bradlee and Robby en route to an editors’ meeting. We see they have an easy and casual relationship. They express reservations about Baron. It’s revealed that Robby rarely attends editors’ meetings – he goes his own way.

After all of this character set-up and exposition, on page 12, the story circles back to the opening sequence and propels us into the main action.

Marty brings up a recent Globe column talking about the case of Father Geoghan, who was accused of abusing multiple children over several decades. The victims’ attorney, Mitch Garabedian, claims the Church knew about it and did nothing, touting sealed documents that prove leading bishop Cardinal Law covered up the abuse.

Baron wants this “essential” story pursued and suggests going to court to unseal the documents.

The rest of the room is taken aback at the suggestion of suing the Church, again, highlighting how entrenched the city and its institutions have become.

In the screenplay, Robby is described as being ‘intrigued’ by the idea and also by Baron’s gutsy suggestion. His willingness to embrace the idea is key to his dogged pursuit as the investigation unfolds.

Later, Mike expresses enthusiasm for suing the Church and asks if such a suit could succeed. Robby replies that it depends on the judge. And what parish he belongs to, Bradlee adds. This is an important reveal about Mike’s character and his soured relationship with the Church.

We then move to a scene between Baron, Robby and Bradlee, in which the managing editor suggests the paper did not do a thorough job reporting on the Geoghan case. Baron urges Robby and his team to take up the investigation.

Robby gets his team to start digging (implied acceptance of the challenge). He sends Mike to talk to Garabedian. Further exposition is revealed as Robby brings up Eric MacLeish, another victims’ lawyer from a related case involving Father Porter. Sacha’s memory lapse about Porter provides the opportunity for Mike to refresh her recollection and let us know there’s another rogue priest out there.

Robby warns the team that they must be more discreet than normal, commenting that he doesn’t want the chancery [the Church’s administrative offices] learning what they’re doing. “Good luck with that”, Matt responds, once again highlighting how intrinsically the Church is intertwined with Boston and foreshadowing resistance to the team’s digging.

So, by now we know:

• there have been instances of child abuse by at least two Catholic priests stretching back decades
• there is potential evidence that the archdiocese covered up the abuse
• how entrenched the Catholic Church is within the city (and how influential)
• the key characters, their main traits and their interrelationships
• the Globe’s new editor is an objective outsider in a tight-knit Boston community
• the Spotlight team is committed and well-placed to uncover the truth
• investigating the Church will likely provoke a strong a reaction

First act (page 18-31):

The next section begins by giving us some further insight into Sacha’s homelife, which includes a grandmother who is a devout Catholic. Sacha worries how her grandmother will react when news of the Globe suing the Church over the sealed documents becomes public. This creates a personal conflict with the demands of her job as the investigation begins.

Baron meets with the Globe’s publisher about suing to get the documents unsealed. The publisher reveals that 53% of the readership is Catholic but reluctantly gives Baron permission to go ahead. The first obstacle is cleared, but with a warning that Baron’s actions won’t be well received by the Church.

Note: Baron getting lost and asking for directions to the publisher’s office – a hark back to Mike’s map quip and a visual reminder that he’s new in town. Also foreshadowing the unknown territory into which the paper is heading.

In the next scene, Mike goes to see Garabedian, the victims’ lawyer, who has been described as “kind of a character”. We don’t see Mitch yet, but we (and Mike) hear him shouting to someone over the phone and we see his small, cluttered law office. This is no slick, monied operator.

Note: How Garabedian’s cluttered office echoes Mike’s equally cluttered desk – in terms of their tenacity, they’re two peas in a pod.

Meanwhile, Robby and Sacha go to see Macleish. In contrast to Garabedian, he’s a smooth-talker, a little shady, and, as described in the screenplay, good looking. He banters with Robby – they clearly have a history.

The reporters ask about the Geoghan case. Further exposition is revealed here as they (and us) find out that the statute of limitations on the abuse cases is only three years, with damages capped at $20,000. Macleish suggests the best option is for Garabedian to try the cases in the media, as he attempted to do.

Crucially, he also dismisses Garabedian’s claim that he has evidence on Cardinal Law, trying to throw the reporters off the scent. Macleish thinks he’s grandstanding to secure a better deal. When Robby counters that the strategy seems reckless, Macleish asks, “Have you met Mitch Garabedian?”. We return to Mike, waiting in Garabedian’s outer office. Sick of waiting, Mike pushes his way into Garabedian’s office – by now, we know he is a tenacious character. In the screenplay, the lawyer is described as ‘abrasive, to say the least’ (page 24).

Mike manages to elicit information from the brusque Garabedian, who is clearly committed to his work, with 84 cases open cases against Geoghan. He’s also paranoid over Mike recording their conversation and reveals that the Church wants him disbarred. Is he smart, paranoid, or a mix of both? Mike underlines his paper’s commitment to the story to a dubious Garabedian. The lawyer reluctantly agrees to consider Mike’s request to speak with some of the victims. It’s clear to both that Garabedian’s grumpy b/s won’t work on Mike.

Note: How the character of Garabedian is introduced and developed. This starts on page 14 when he’s described as ‘a bit of a crank’. There is a necessary ambiguity here – it would be easy to dismiss Garabedian, as the Globe did previously, but there is enough evidence that he is on to something and should be taken seriously.

Back with Spotlight. The team is going through old clips. This is an important scene that moves the story forward considerably. For example, we learn of a survivor’s group of the victims of priests’ abuse and the name another abusive priest, Barrett. We also learn about Jim Sullivan, a friend of Robby’s, a lawyer brought in by the Church to deal with the abuse cases.

We move to a baseball game at Fenway Park – a real Boston tradition. It also gives the audience a visual break from newsrooms and offices. Mike, Matt and Bradlee talk about the case. Another, older, reporter is with them. He remembers the Barrett story.

Note: An important element of the story seeded throughout is the Globe’s previous lack of attention to the story, which was first flagged by Baron in the editorial meeting on page 12. Over the years, reporters have written scant stories, but have never conducted a thorough investigation – in some ways, the paper and its reporters have been indirectly complicit in the cover-up. This has implications for Robby and Bradlee. While Bradlee, at least at first, is reluctant to pursue the story, Robby is committed to pursuing the investigation – but both are fearful of what they might find.

We learn a little more about Mike and his motivations for pursuing the story when Bradlee accuses him of being “another lapsed Catholic pissed off at the Church”.

Bradlee is generally dismissive about the investigation, calling it “thin” and questioning the motives of the head of the support group, Phil Saviano, echoing the dismissive scepticism attached to Garabedian.

Then, at the top of page 31, he tells the team to find something solid or he’ll take the reporters off the story. This sets the clock running and heightens the conflict (the fictionalised Woodward and Bernstein were under similar pressure in All the President’s Men (1976)).

The Spotlight team now has to intensify its work in a climate where people are resistant to knowing what they might find.

Overview of the first 30 pages:

Rules of the characters and their world:

This is the world of Boston and its main newspaper, the Globe. The community is tight-knit, with deep ties to the Catholic Church, which exerts a powerful influence. There is a clear divide between insiders and outsiders.

Exposition:

Exposition is mostly revealed through dialogue. This is a procedural, so there is a lot of talking. However, also note the use of paper and books, much of which is old and hasn’t been touched for years (even decades). Stacks of files, boxes containing evidence, books, clippings. All this suggests a long-term cover-up and a neglected story. It also serves reveal character.

Plot hooks and question marks:

The first plot hook appears at the very beginning of the screenplay, with Geoghan at the police station. What is going on and where will it lead?

This is heightened on page 12 when Baron raises the Geoghan case and alludes to a cover-up. On page 16, Baron then directly requests that the Spotlight team pursues the investigation. On page 18, Robby makes his comment about the Chancery “getting wind” of the story. So, the questions become: What will the reporters learn and what obstacles will they face?

In terms of character, the question is: How will the Spotlight team – each member of which has a specific relationship to Boston and the Church – personally respond to what is uncovered by the investigation?”

Seeds planted in the first 30 pages include:

• the fact that the Globe previously covered the abuse cases but did not take the subject too seriously > implicating Bradlee and Robby
• Robby’s deep ties to the Boston establishment > this will lead to further internal and external conflict
• the introduction of the idea that there is evidence the Church establishment knew of the abuse > this will lead to the widening of the investigation and the real expose

Character development:

This is a multi-protagonist story involving the wider Globe staff (including Baron and Bradlee) and the smaller Spotlight team. This in itself creates the potential for conflict.

The main protagonists are arguably Robby and Mike, both dogged reporters but very different characters.

Robby: Wants to pursue the story but hopes that it will not reveal any extensively damaging information. He has deep roots in the community and is fearful about the impact of what his team’s investigation will uncover. There is also a level of guilt related to his longevity at the paper, which previously had the opportunity to expose the abusive priests and Church cover-up. He’s a committed reporter but on some level dropped the ball when it came to this “essential” story.

Mike: Is enthusiastic about pursuing the story from the start. Mike clearly has a complicated relationship with religion. Indeed, he’s described as a lapsed Catholic “pissed off at the Church”, which gives him something of an axe to grind. His somewhat annoyingly abrasive approach – demonstrated in the scene on pages 7/8 when he grills Robby about Baron – works in his favour as he is able to connect with the ‘difficult’ Garabedian, who is crucial to the investigation.

Final thoughts:

Hopefully, this breakdown has highlighted how effective the opening of Spotlight is in setting up the story, introducing the key characters, and outlining conflicts (internal and external) that will play out over the remaining 90 pages.

While procedural in nature, the story is very well paced, bringing in key plot developments and characters at frequent intervals to heighten tension and to propel the reporters (and us) towards further revelatory information that leads to the uncovering of an extensive global network of child abuse and its cover-up by the Catholic Church.