It has been earning praise from critics even before it was nominated for Best Picture at the 2016 Academy Awards. Now, we know why.

“Spotlight,” award-winning director Tom McCarthy’s inside look at a newspaper exposé on child abuse by the Catholic Church, is gripping.

It helped that the ensemble cast, including big Hollywood names like Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Stanley Tucci, Liev Schrieber and Brian d’Arcy James, were convincing in their respective roles.

The film is based on a true story of Boston Globe’s Pulitzer prize-winning investigative team dubbed the Spotlight spending some two years painstakingly pinning down pedophiles within a Catholic Church in Boston.

It wasn’t exactly an easy subject, probably why the film earned an R-16 rating, but the film braved the sensitive issue to become a truly absorbing thriller.

To be clear, the film is not about religion or God. It simply highlights the plight of child molestation victims and their search for justice.

During the press preview last Feb. 9 at the Gateway Cineplex, we were made aware of how the film relates to us as journalists, with the Spotlight team heroically going beyond the call of duty to uncover a complex story. We find inspiration in the fact that they weren’t actually doing what they were doing for fame or prestige.

The best aspect of the film is how it was able to show the intensity of the victim’s sufferings without having to rely on flashbacks or dramatic re-enactments.

In a report by The Hollywood Reporter, McCarthy admitted, “Investigative reporting can be tedious. It can be endless. But it can also be exciting. And that’s the drama we’re trying to capture in this movie.”