Spotlight is highly regarded as one of the best recent films about investigative journalism. Released in 2017 by director Tom McCarthy (Stillwater), the movie tells the true-life story behind the investigation into the child sex abuse by priests that the Catholic Church kept hidden for decades. The team that broke the story was the famed Spotlight team from the Boston Globe, which had won two Pulitzer Prizes in the past (1972 and 1980) before winning a third for this specific investigation in 2003.

The movie has an all-star cast, including Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, and Rachel McAdams. It also presented huge moments both in the investigative journalism portion of the story and a look at the dark underbelly of the Catholic Church's long-standing commitment to keeping these secrets buried. This helps Spotlight find comparisons with some of the best investigative journalism movies in cinema history, as well as some other instances where the Catholic Church's secrets were unveiled.

20 Capote (2005)

Truman Capote Writes His True-Crime Masterpiece

Truman Capote is not a journalistic writer. However, his exploration of a famous murder case brought him into the world of non-fiction. Phillip Seymour Hoffman stars as Capote, the high-class and flamboyant author who travels to a small town that was the site of a gruesome murder. With his childhood friend Harper Lee (Catherine Keener) by his side, he speaks with the townspeople, investigating the case for the New Yorker magazine while the killers are still on the loose, yet to be identified.

The movie is a fascinating look at how Capote blurs the lines between fact and fiction, especially after the killers are arrested. Capote connects with them and turns his article into a full-length novel called In Cold Blood. The movie shows how these investigations can destroy a journalist, as Capote gets so close to the case that it overwhelms him. Like Spotlight, it deals with subject matter that the community would rather not address but cannot escape.

19 Veronica Guerin (2003)

An Irish Reporter Dies Investigating the Drug Trade

While Tár is easily one of Cate Blanchett's best movies, Veronica Guerin is an overlooked movie in her career that deserves some attention. Directed by Joel Schumacher, Blanchett stars as the title character in the true story of Guerin's heroic efforts to expose some of Ireland's most powerful criminals. Guerin was a crime reporter for an Irish newspaper who started to dive deep into an investigation of the local drug trade as it started to disrupt the working class and children in her town.

Like Spotlight, it is about a journalist following a story no one dared to touch.

However, the deeper she gets, the deadlier the investigation becomes as the high-level crime lords decide it would be better to kill a reporter than allow her to explode their darkest secrets. Like Spotlight, it is about a journalist following a story no one dared to touch. However, this film does not have the satisfying ending that Spotlight offered. Guerin's story is captivating, and the movie is a powerful portrait of her fight to expose the truth, even if her death is what finally brought about change.

18 Frost/Nixon (2009)

The Interview With A Disgraced President

When it comes to taking a deep-dive look into the world of journalism, Frost/Nixon is a stellar example. David Frost was a tremendous British journalist, and this film focuses on him and the series of interviews he conducted with disgraced President Richard Nixon. The interviews all took place after Watergate, and therefore, the film is constructed around that, telling the story of what happened while also unpacking things from both sides.

What really makes the film so intense is that it is based on the play of the same name by Peter Morgan, and very much shot like a stage play, with the action all taking place in limited spaces and consisting of nothing more than conversations and negotiations. However, with the steady hand of director Ron Howard, it never loses its potency and is never once boring. It's a gripping viewing experience and showcases how something as simple as an interview can be incredibly entertaining and dramatic.

17 Concussion (2015)

The Court Case Investigating Athlete's Concussions

While comparing the Catholic Church to the NFL might seem silly, they can also be a powerful force of opposition when someone tries to address their flaws. Concussion is another true story that stars Will Smith as a pathologist who seeks to bring awareness to brain damage linked to football players. It is a movie that has become more relevant recently and addresses the dark side of a source of entertainment for millions of people.

While Spotlight had newspaper journalists facing insurmountable odds against the Catholic Church, Concussion had an attorney facing insurmountable odds against the National Football League. No, it isn't as major of an obstacle as the Vatican, but it is a corporation worth billions of dollars that was willing to pay whatever it took to cover up its possible connection with concussions and their role in player struggles later in life.

16 The Big Short (2015)

The Story Behind The American Mortgage Crisis

In Spotlight, the team of journalists feels like they are the only people who know about the massive story going on under everyone's noses when they learn about the sexual abuse allegations. There is a similar feel in Adam McKay's The Big Short, which deals with the mortgage housing crisis of 2007 and the people who saw it coming. Even with its comedic tone, the movie is a historically accurate tale told interestingly without diminishing the devastation of what happened.

It also features an all-star cast, including Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt. While Spotlight played the story more seriously, the more comedic tones in The Big Short were put in the movie to help explain the intricacies of the entire housing market and what caused it to collapse, making some people very wealthy and destroying others (an example is Margot Robbie as herself in a bubble bath explaining the situation in anyone can understand).

15 Doubt (2008)

A Story Of Possible Abuse In The Catholic Church

In Doubt, Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays the new priest of a Catholic school in the 1950s, while Meryl Streep plays a senior nun whose suspicions of him boil over into an explosive feud. Amy Adams stars as a young nun who is caught in between these two powerful forces, as Sister Aloysius Beauvier believes Father Flynn has sexually assaulted an altar boy, while he denies it with all his being. Like Spotlight, this film touches on the abuses within the Catholic Church, though set in a time when these were even less talked about.

The film keeps the audience guessing the truth of the accusations while the incredibly talented cast delivers powerful performances. Even at the end, when Father Flynn leaves for another position, Sister Beauvier believes his guilt while also saying she has "doubts," which shows why many of these situations were so hard to pin down, as even those close to the situation never had the proof needed at the time to stop these priests' actions. Doubt received four Oscar nominations.

14 Shattered Glass (2003)

A Reporter Finds Success By Writing Fake News Stories

Spotlight is very much a film about the brilliance and talent of dedicated journalists. Shattered Glass is another fascinating look inside this world, though one that deals with the darker side of journalism. Hayden Christensen stars in this true story as Stephen Glass, a young reporter who rose through the ranks of Washington journalism while fabricating 27 of the 41 stories he wrote for The New Republic. The film is a thrilling look at the fall of this writer and his colleagues' efforts to expose him.

While movies like Spotlight show how hard the journalists work to ensure that what they print is the truth and is backed up by facts, Shattered Glass is a movie that shows that not all journalists have this kind of integrity, as much of the world has learned over the last decade of American journalism. The fact that this was based on a true story makes it even more shocking. The Vanity Fair article on which the movie is based was written by H.G. Bissinger, who also wrote the non-fiction book Friday Night Lights.

13 The Social Network (2010)

The Story Of Facebook's Rise

While The Social Network isn't about journalism in the sense that many of these movies are, it takes a detailed look at the rise of the modern format of social media, specifically Facebook. This platform is a major way in which people consume news nowadays, and seeing how the company was set up is absolutely fascinating as it nails the internet more than most movies. The Social Network features a brilliant ensemble cast, and much like Spotlight, it is incredibly tense throughout.

Jesse Eisenberg stars as Mark Zuckerberg while Andrew Garfield is Eduardo Saverin, the man who created Facebook alongside Zuckerberg, only to end up pushed out. The Social Network received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Eisenberg), while winning Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Song. The inner politics and issues on various sides of the argument are gripping, to say the least, and this film is all about dialogue and communication.

12 Erin Brockovich (2000)

A Woman Investigates A Power Company Polluting The Water Supply

Even though the Boston Globe is a powerful entity itself, there is a sense of an underdog story to Spotlight. As these reporters attempt to expose the truth of these heinous crimes, they are met with opposition from powerful people. They are regular journalists who have to face off with the higher powers of the Catholic Church. The fact they told their story was astonishing, considering the roadblocks in front of them. Erin Brockovich has a similar and entertaining David and Goliath story.

The film stars Julia Roberts as a strong-willed single mother named Erin Brockovich, who, while working at a law office, becomes heavily involved in a class-action lawsuit against a power company that is polluting the community's water supply. It is a fun, inspiring, and thrilling legal drama with a great performance from Roberts. Steven Soderbergh's movie earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and Roberts won an Oscar for her performance.

11 State Of Play (2009)

A Reporter Investigates A Congressman Whose Wife Dies

While Spotlight keeps things grounded in its telling of this incredible true story, there is a low-key thriller aspect to the film. However, if you're looking for a film about investigative journalism that embraces the thrills even more, State of Play is an excellent choice. Ben Affleck stars as an up-and-coming congressman whose affair goes public when his mistress dies. The congressman's friend, a reporter (Russell Crowe), begins digging deeper into her death and finds there is more to this story than meets the eye.

There is a murder mystery that starts the story, and when more bodies end up falling, McAffrey realizes he is getting close to the truth, which could bring a major political figure down. Spotlight attacking the Catholic Church was an uphill battle, but anytime a reporter is targeting a corrupt politician, things get even harder to break through on, with both the government and the public eye often doing everything they can to protect a criminal holding a position of political power.