Disclosure Day, 2026.
Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Elizabeth Marvel, Michael Gaston, Gabby Beans, Elliot Villar, Tommy Martinez, Noah Robbins, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Brian Button, and Lance Hoyt.
SYNOPSIS:
If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frightenyou?
Among the cast of director Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day(once again collaborating with screenwriter David Koepp) are meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) who suddenly develops superpower-like intuition and knowledge of those around her (it practically comes crashing into her like a wave, unsolicited, whenever interacting with someone), quickly leading to an inexplicable event on live television, where instead of giving a weather forecast, she begins making clicking noises against her will.
This subsequently leads everyone, including her comic-relief, obnoxious boyfriend (Wyatt Russell), to speculate about her sanity, as one of her visions tells her to find a man named Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) whom she has never met before. We know him as a whistle-blowing cybercriminal in possession of classified secrets belonging to government-affiliated Wardex, containing proof of extraterrestrial life forms, and staunchly believing that the entire public deserves to know about this evidence dating back 70+ years. Meanwhile, knowledgeable Wardex defector Hugo (Coleman Domingo) plays a calmly collected role in pushing the two of them across the country to unite, working towards the same goal
Using technology reverse-engineered from mistreating and experimenting on those aliens, Colin Firth’s Wardex head of operations, Noah Scanlon, dangerously links his brain up to a device allowing him to telepathically “dive” into the bodies of almost anyone, capable of controlling their limbs while also projecting an image of himself across from them (that only the afflicted person can see) for something bordering on hypnosis interrogation. Naturally, this doesn’t work on Margaret, who has been blessed or cursed (it’s a matter of perspective) by something otherworldly, shielding her from such invasive attacks. It has no effect on Daniel either, but Noah is able to dive into his trusted friend Jane (Eve Hewson), once a novitiate, as he learns while they are on the run, looking for a place to hide out.
That’s a lot of preamble and setup to get to the point that, roughly halfway through, Disclosure Day sidelines Jane, arguably the film’s most complex character. For a narrative essentially daring to ask how humanity would react in discovering that they are not alone in the universe and that they would have to rethink their place on a much larger scale, while also directly posing questions of how, specifically, people of faith, and even more specifically, Jane, who is at a crossroads regarding her beliefs, would react in simultaneously holding those truths and what it would mean for organized religion in a grander scope, it is a perplexing choice to write that character out for much of the runtime only to bring them back for a convenient third act moment. Not to mention that she fits the description for whom the narrative, aside from its audience, poses questions about the proof of alien life. Other aspects are sometimes too wrapped up in Margaret and Daniel’s past, with goofy explanations leading to goofier ones and shoddy visual effects.
It is even more frustrating considering that, outside of a show-stopping set piece involving a car and a locomotive, even with its noticeably rough CGI, the best scene here comes when Noah dives into Jane, somewhat of a skeptic but insistent on sticking with her friend on this journey instead of staying put inside a church, for information on Daniel’s whereabouts, who has temporarily stepped out. Jane’s natural first instinct is to clutch her cross in her palm, clinging to her faith. Noah, equipped with technology that only exists because it comes from extraterrestrial experimentation, forces her to squeeze that cross until it breaks skin and draws blood, all while he asks basic questions that her mind can’t resist answering, even while visibly putting up a mental fight. It makes for a scene and character wrestling with religion, science, and the supernatural.
That is not to say that the other elements of Disclosure Day‘s story are unsatisfactory or that the rest of the experience is a chore. It is far from that; this is a film that once again sees Steven Spielberg collaborating with legend and longtime friend John Williams (for a score that is unmistakably his work, although one much more subtle at nudging along inquisitive wonder and awe), recent frequent partner cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (there is exquisite blocking, framing, and occasionally remarkable reflection shots that transpose faces onto one another), production designer Adam Stackhausen (a key plot point involves restaging a memory, which also means recreating everything about where it took place in exhausting detail), costume designer Paul Tazewell (perhaps it might not seem like it, but even aspects like Margaret’s broadcasting attire comes with color that pops on screen), and greatly benefits from Steven Spielberg playing up mystery and curiosity with both characterization and action. There is no denying that one is effortlessly caught up in the story, patiently waiting for answers and what kind of resolution any of this will lead to.
However, there is also a hokey feel to some of those answers and the general messaging of the film, which could either be seen as fortunate or a detraction, given current events relating to reasons that the real-world government is going out of its way to attempt releasing extraterrestrial information as a distraction to certain files the whole world has been waiting to see. It also simply boils down to that Steven Spielberg is a more optimistic and hopeful man than I am, envisioning a society that actually would question their place in the world and look inward to rediscover empathy, whereas in reality, such hard evidence would still somehow turn into the dumbest discourse imaginable online and in the real world. Despite all of that, the climactic sequence also sees Spielberg doing what he does best: instilling a combination of awe and inquisitiveness that is both striking and emotional, here almost coming across as documentary-like in its spellbinding execution (elevated by Courtney Grace in a small yet pivotal role, lending great empathy to what’s being revealed).
And while Disclosure Day often feels focused on its central characters (aside from pushing aside the most compelling supporting player), it also feels unfocused in its bigger picture. All over the news are allusions to World War 3 (with full-blown panic breaking out in society at one point), yet it remains a largely unexplored thread. It’s very well possible that there is a fictional president here, but God, what I would give to have seen his reaction to some of what unfolds in the climax. Full disclosure, though: the film begins with someone getting stomped and ends with the word ” listen”. Less fighting and more empathy are sentiments worth striving for. What Spielberg has wrapped that message up in is simultaneously spectacular, clunky, and syrupy, with a dose of real emotional heft.
Flickering Myth Rating– Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
