THE CLUB

Movie themes pop up in multiple movies each year, seemingly independently. First we had SPOTLIGHT, a big Hollywood production. And now comes a South American installment on the same theme, only this time the story centers on a secret seaside home full of defrocked, criminal priests who've done awful things in the past. WARNING: serious cruelty to dogs is depicted in this movie (we're not in Hollywood, that is for sure), as if to show that these wicked bastards wouldn't think twice of hurting animals considering what they did to children. THE CLUB is a dead-serious, heavy movie that will make you uncomfortable and sad. The ending seemed, in retrospect, probably about the best outcome one could expect given the organization behind these deeds. SCORE: 70.