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The journalism drama 鈥淪potlight鈥� won the Best Picture Oscar at the 2016 Academy Awards ceremony, triumphing over other presumed frontrunners such as "The Revenant鈥� and 鈥淭he Big Short.鈥�

鈥淪potlight鈥� tells the true story of Boston Globe staff, played by Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, and Brian d鈥橝rcy James, who investigate sexual abuse in the Catholic church. The reporters were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for their work.

It was believed to be an unpredictable year for Best Picture. Other awards like the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the prizes bestowed by the Directors Guild of America are often believed to offer clues as to what will take the big award on Oscars night. But this year, many of these awards were split, with, among others, 鈥淪potlight鈥� winning the SAG Award for best cast and the film 鈥淭he Big Short鈥� winning the equivalent of Best Picture at the Producers Guild of America Awards.

So how did the drama 鈥淪potlight鈥� take the big prize when it came to the Academy Awards?

Los Angeles Times writer Kenneth Turan wrote that one reason 鈥淪potlight鈥� won was the power of its themes.

鈥淚t successfully conveyed its significance, something that Oscar voters look on with favor,鈥� Turan wrote of the movie鈥檚 win. 鈥淲hen I started to see ads saying things like 鈥極ne Film Breaks the Silence, One Film Moved Us With the Truth,鈥� I started to see how 鈥楽potlight鈥� could win.鈥�

Meanwhile, New York Times writer Cara Buckley felt that both the way those behind 鈥淪potlight鈥� represented the film鈥檚 message, bringing along with them during awards season the original journalists, and sentiment against other competition like 鈥淪hort鈥� and 鈥淩evenant鈥� both worked in favor for 鈥淪potlight.鈥澛�

Vulture writer Kyle Buchanan agreed.聽