30 Greatest Best Picture Oscar Nominees Of The Last Ten Years

A surprise Best Picture winner that deservedly snatched victory from The Revenant, the previous front-runner (a very good film, but certainly not on Spotlight's level), Spotlight is one of the finest Best Picture winners to date, not to mention a very unique one.

The history of the Academy Award for Best Picture is dominated by films which take on serious issues but many of them do so with melodramatic narratives and big emotional fireworks.

Spotlight, which looks at the Roman Catholic Sexual Abuse Scandal, is about as far from that as it gets.

A low-key film in the best possible sense, Spotlight's fantastic screenplay is never manipulative, exploitative or sensationalist. It's a faithful retelling of events, filled with phenomenal dialogue, that allows the history to speak for itself. Similarly, director Tom McCarthy is admirably restrained in his direction and never distracts from the sublime writing or the fantastic performances from its cast.

Spotlight is among the most sensitive, well-judged issue movies you'll ever see and ultimately, it emerges as a chilling story of institutional corruption that's far more disturbing than most horror films could ever be.

It's rare for such a subtle film to win Best Picture, but it was completely deserved in this case and they picked a completely worthy winner out of a fairly hit-or-miss Best Picture line-up.