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Spotlight · written by Josh Singer & Tom McCarthy · 2015
Scene 53 of 143 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act two
The Boston Globe's Spotlight team pries open the Catholic Church's decades-long cover-up of child abuse — one sealed record, one silenced victim at a time.
Robby's Spotlight team operates comfortably inside its own routine, prospecting a modest police-corruption story under a departing editor's cover.
Baron's outsider question exposes what the paper has never done: investigate whether Cardinal Law knowingly protected an abusive priest.
The team sets aside its own project and enters unfamiliar territory: survivor networks, a hostile plaintiff's lawyer, and a legal fight to unseal church records.
Phil Saviano tells the team abuse this systemic isn't just physical, it's spiritual: 'if it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one.'
McSorley leaves Garabedian's office late at night, offering his real name; Garabedian calls him 'one of the lucky ones' since he's still alive. Sacha then calls Crowley, learns his old lawyer was MacLeish, and calls Robby to confirm Shanley as their fourth priest.
Ben packs up for the night when Robby catches him with a question.
Walking out, Ben notes Marty is still working late, and Robby tells him he wants to expand the investigation because Phil Saviano's count of thirteen abusive priests might be legitimate.
This scene
Mike opens the fridge when his phone RINGS. He picks up.
MIKE (INTO PHONE)
Hello.
SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)
Mr. Rezendes?
MIKE (INTO PHONE)
Yeah. Who’s this?
SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)
It’s Richard Sipe.
MIKE (INTO PHONE)
Oh, hey Richard, thanks for calling.
Phil Saviano gave me your name, can
I ask you a few questions?
SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)
Of course.
Mike reaches for his bag, pulls out his pad and a pen.
MIKE (INTO PHONE)
Great. So Phil said you worked at
one of the church’s treatment
centers in Baltimore...
SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)
Yes, that’s right. The Seton
Psychiatric Institute. It was run
by the Daughters of Charity.
MIKE
And when was that, Richard?
SIPE (OVER THE PHONE)
Well, I started my psychotherapy
fellowship there in 1965 and I was
there for five years, but I spent
the next thirty studying abusive
priests and their victims.
MIKE
Really? That’s been your sole
focus?
SIPE
Look, Mike, the church wants us to
believe that it’s just a few bad
apples, but it’s a much bigger
problem than that.
MIKE
How much bigger?
SIPE
Well, based on the research, I would
classify it as a recognizable
psychiatric phenomenon.
As Mike starts scribbling, sucked back in...
MIKE
That’s big.