The Ongoing Battles of Spotlight and Dark Waters
Dark Waters (2019) and Spotlight (2015) dramatize the uncovering of two major scandals that have since shaken Americans to the core. As films, they share a lot of similarities. They both follow individuals uncovering injustices committed by powerful organizations. They both show how people will ignore crimes that seem impossible to ignore. They also, yes, both feature Mark Ruffalo. But perhaps the most interesting similarity between the two films is that they make the same argument about what it takes to battle large injustices in the same way.
Throughout the two films, it’s clear that the work that the Spotlight reporters and Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) are accomplishing takes time. The protagonists run into delay after delay. The events of Spotlight happen over a year, but the epilogue tells us that the Spotlight reporters continue their work on the story for two more years after that. The events in Dark Waters happen over a much longer period, but the epilogue text reminds us that Bilott is still fighting, twenty years after taking on his first case. A movie only has a certain amount of real estate when it comes to showing the progression of time. Both Dark Waters and Spotlight come in at a little over two hours. How then, is the continuity of these fights related to the viewer?
While part of the length of these stories is shown through the pacing (anchors like other news stories or clothing and hair changes in Dark Waters) the most impactful way that these movies relate the lack of story resolution is through their endings. Most of Spotlight focuses on uncovering the story. The investigation is at the center of the film. But while these reporters finding the truth and then sharing it could seem like a conclusion, the film refuses to rely on that narrative safety.
The night before the big exposé is published, reporter Mike Rezendez (Mark Ruffalo) stops by lawyer Mitchell Garabedian’s (Stanley Tucci) office to drop off a copy of the finished article. On his way out, he sees two young children, both recently abused by priests, and Garabedian urges Rezendez to continue with his work. This scene places the efforts of these reporters into the larger context of what the crisis they are reporting on might actually mean to people. The reporters are heroes, in a way, but the fight not done and the injustice is not yet fixed. Their article and their work on this story is a success and a win, but it isn’t happy nor is it the end.
Spotlight’s final scene takes place the morning that the article goes out. Sacha (Rachel McAdams) and Matt (Brian d’Arcy James) come in early to answer any phone calls that might come in. Robby (Michael Keaton) and Mike show up to the paper’s building simultaneously, both drawn to the office even on their day off. As Robbie and Mike get closer to the Spotlight office, we begin to hear phones ringing. We see Sacha and Matt answering the phones, and Matt tells Robby that the calls are nearly all from victims. Each reporter takes their places at their desks, speaking in hushed tones, taking notes on notepads. The phones are still ringing as the screen cuts to black.
The last scene in Dark Waters is not structurally similar to the last scene of Spotlight, though it ultimately has the same effect. The scene takes place in a courtroom, as a woman brings a lawsuit against chemicals company DuPont. When the judge calls for the plaintiff’s attorney, Bilott stands up to make himself known. The judge instantly recognizes Bilott, quipping, “Ah, still here huh?” and Bilott replies, “Still here.”
The endings to these two films show that problems don’t disappear or resolve on their own once they’re discovered. It takes fighting and work and time. The issues that Dark Waters and Spotlight are tackling are not simple ones. They’re not solvable within the scope of a movie. In fact, the problems are still not resolved, even though most of the events of the films happened decades ago. Because the crimes uncovered in these films seem so impossible, it is easy to distance ourselves from them. They explain the types of things that would have happened in the past, somewhere else. It couldn’t happen here. But they are happening, and they are happening here.
As the epilogue to Dark Waters’ points out, “PFOA is believed to be in the blood of virtually every living creature on the planet… including 99% of humans.” Spotlight’s epilogue includes three lists of locations where Catholic Church abuse scandals have been uncovered. The lists appear and disappear faster than they can be read. But the effect is not ephemeral, it’s weighty. The lists remind us that the problem is larger than just Boston, that it is everywhere.
The conclusions to these films refuse to wrap the story up in a bow. The battles are long and they don’t have happy endings. But change can happen, even if the only way change happens is slow and grueling. The epilogue text in these films doesn’t explain how the day was won, it explains that the problems still exist, that problems like these can still exist today. In both cases, there is still work to do, there are still injustices that need righting, and that feeling follows us out of the theater and into our lives. – Tiffany Babb
Both Dark Waters and Spotlight are now available to rent or purchase on all home video formats.