Spotlight opened in theaters this month, with a gripping realistic story that showed audiences snippets of a process we don’t usually see: what it takes to uncover, research and write a groundbreaking piece of investigative journalism.

The film tells the true story of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team, who investigated allegations in 2001 that the Roman Catholic Church was involved in covering up the cases of dozens of pedophile priests over the decades. The team of six (played by Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci, John Slattery, Michael Keaton and Billy Crudup) dug up proof by demanding public records, pestering abuse lawyers, and interviewing victims, that the Catholic Church and the Boston Archdiocese deliberately knew that over 200 priests were molesting children for years.

Despite the lurid nature of the story, the film spares viewers from flashbacks that detail the awful moments when children as young as four were fondled or abused by men that they thought they could trust the most. We get a sense of the horrors the victims went through, when they open up and reveal details after Sacha Pfeiffer (played by McAdams) insists that simply saying “I was molested,” isn’t enough. Pfeiffer’s pained expression and soft-spoken tone when she insisted that the language used was important to the story, highlighted that although she cared about details, she also cared about respecting the individuals and their dignity. The reporters in Spotlight didn’t sensationalize the abuses, or cause courtroom spectacles, they simply did their job of finding the truth, diligently.

A main focus of the movie is on the craft, process and importance of investigative journalism. Party due to the efforts of unsung players like those Globe journalists (real names: Sacha Pfeiffer, Michael Rezendes, Walter “Robby” Robinson, Marty Baron, Ben Bradlee and Matt Carroll) those monster priests were prosecuted and kept away from children. The Boston Globe’s investigation and subsequent publishing of over 600 articles also accomplished something even more valuable: It taught the world to think critically of the Catholic Church and other organizations that we tend to put blind faith in just because they’ve been established members of authority for centuries. Like the real-life stories that inspired the film, Spotlight does a good job of re-kindling these troubling but valuable thoughts. Spotlight re-illustrated the notion that although the Catholic Church claims to do the work of God with one hand, sometimes it sweeps atrocities under the rug with the other. The journalists who weren’t afraid to relentlessly ask the uncomfortable questions and defy an institution that’s still considered untouchable, were the only ones to drag the harsh nasty truth into the light.

Spotlight is Oscar worthy, and it’s worth highlighting areas (besides the darkly fascinating plot) where this movie shines. The film scored with a 97 percent approval on the movie rating website Rotten Tomatoes and has garnered “universal acclaim” from magazine reviewers and International Film festival critics.

The 128-minute runtime flies by. The pacing is perfect, and although you know how the story ends, the plot unfolds in a way that keeps you guessing the ways that the journalists begin to piece things together and unravel the truth.

How will the Spotlight team convince the Massachusetts courts to release church-sealed documents? How do you interview the victims in a way that promotes justice instead of shaming? Why did the church publish records of the convicted priests time in court as “sick leave,” or “absence?” How will the reporters respond to the baffled expressions of their peers when they ask, “you’re going to sue the Catholic Church?” And at the core of this drama, how many cracks in our society have the stains of complacency and ignorance seeped into?

There are no car chases, firefights or courtroom screaming matches, but that doesn’t mean that Spotlight doesn’t get your blood pumping. Drama oozes in the Globe newsroom thanks to the superb acting skills of the cast and the witty dialogue exchanged between their reporter counterparts. The film’s locations cycle through typical journalist environments: a messy desk, lawyer’s offices, the streets of Boston and a dimly lit living room at home with an open laptop on the coffee table. The only physical actions in the movie are scenes with members of the Spotlight team frantically shuffling through dusty filing cabinets or library shelves, Ruffalo sprinting to retrieve critical documents at the Boston Court House before it closes, and the Globe’s distribution center printing out stacks of that first, cover-page revelation, after the bombshell was written and finally ready to hit the streets.

Though some might call the film’s setting or action drab and boring, it’s excellent in its authenticity. Newspaper offices look exactly the way they were depicted; with piles of notes, pastel colors and a sizable conference room. And journalists, for the most part, talk with the same banter and work with the same diligence as the Spotlight team does. And although it would have been tempting to idolize the film’s protagonists and raise them up as heroes, Spotlight does not do that. There’s no false drama, brags about getting the “big scoop,” or scenes of office romance. We don’t get to see the glimpses of the journalist’s personal life, because in the end, Spotlight isn’t about the journalists, it’s about the nuts and bolts of the stories they’re working on and the social, legal and spiritual implications embedded in each. The journalists are painted simply as hardworking writers and researchers determined to get to the bottom of the story and inform the public. They’re just doing their job, and if anything, the film highlights the power of personal responsibility.

The real subject of the film aren’t the journalists, but the lives that they’re prying into and the importance of telling their story accurately, thoroughly and honorably. The ending scene was subtle, yet unforgettably poignant, leaving you with a mix of sour thoughts and a strong desire to read the original news articles that started it all.