There’s nothing groundbreaking or surprising here, but it remains an enjoyable film from one of our most accomplished directors.
The summer blockbuster season has officially begun with the theatrical debut of *Disclosure Day*, director Steven Spielberg’s much-anticipated comeback to his sci-fi roots involving aliens living among us. Bottom line: While there’s little that feels fresh or original in the realm of alien movies, it’s a briskly paced film featuring a standout performance by Emily Blunt that is sure to entertain.
(Some spoilers follow, but no major reveals.)
The movie’s first half functions largely as a political thriller—reminiscent of 1974’s *The Parallax View* and similar works—as worldwide tensions push the globe to the brink of World War III. A cybersecurity expert named Daniel (Josh O’Connor) has taken a piece of extraterrestrial technology and highly confidential documents from his employer, Wardex Corporation, a secretive branch of the U.S. government led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth). Scanlon forces Daniel out by taking his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) hostage. During the exchange, Daniel outsmarts them and flees with Jane, and the pair go on the run as Scanlon brands Daniel a traitor.
Meanwhile, Margaret (Emily Blunt), a TV meteorologist in Kansas City, is having breakfast with her boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell) when a cardinal flies through the window, locks eyes with her, and then departs. Margaret resumes chatting with Jackson, but now in Russian—a language she has never spoken. On her way to work, she discovers she can perceive the thoughts and emotions of others and communicate in their native tongues. Then—in a key moment shown in all the trailers—Margaret begins her live weather segment, only to slip into an alien language on air. That instant goes viral.
This catches the attention of Scanlon, as well as his Wardex colleague Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo). Hugo is the one orchestrating events behind the scenes to facilitate Daniel’s theft of the top-secret materials. His objective: reveal their contents—documenting human-alien encounters over the past 80 years—to the public. Scanlon is equally determined to prevent the truth from ever emerging, setting up a high-stakes race against time as Daniel and Margaret attempt to evade his operatives and connect with each other.
A shift in tone
I won’t go into detail about the final 30 minutes or so, as it would reveal too much (though the last trailer offered some fairly strong clues). Suffice it to say, there is a notable tonal shift toward the mystical as the storylines converge. In Spielberg’s skilled hands, it succeeds, even though some have criticized the CGI, especially the animals. Considering what those creatures ultimately represent, I believe it was the correct choice to give them an otherworldly appearance, as if they’d stepped out of a fairy tale into our darker, grittier reality.
Spielberg has put together an outstanding cast, but Blunt serves as the film’s anchor. Her performance has earned critical praise, and the accolades are well warranted. Blunt is a talented and versatile actress, and she draws on all that experience to portray Margaret as the character discovers the full extent of her powers—and accesses some long-buried childhood memories in the process. Blunt even utilized her vocal training as an actor to produce the alien language’s throaty clicks and pops in a single four-minute take, refusing to let the filmmakers rely on AI-based post-production to achieve it.
This film runs nearly two and a half hours, but Spielberg’s expert pacing prevents it from feeling overly long. With a few notable exceptions, the plot mostly holds together, and it works best when the movie is in full thriller mode. However, the underlying themes and concepts aren’t especially profound, and the big final reveal is distinctly underwhelming. There’s nothing here we haven’t encountered countless times before; indeed, we’ve seen it from Spielberg himself.
Frankly, it’s unclear why Spielberg wanted to make another alien movie when he’s already created two of the most iconic films in the genre: *Close Encounters of the Third Kind* and *E.T.* Spielberg has cited a 2017 *New York Times* article about the Pentagon’s UFO program for reigniting his interest and has stated he is even more convinced that intelligent alien life exists somewhere in our vast universe. Fair enough; many scientists would agree it’s possible. But it doesn’t appear that he has anything new to say on the subject. *Disclosure Day* is closer in tone to *Close Encounters*, a fine film in its own right. But *E.T.* is arguably a perfect film, which is why it has endured over time. How can you improve on perfection?
The short answer is you can’t, and *Disclosure Day* doesn’t. Still, it’s a highly watchable, impeccably crafted movie from one of our finest directors. If you’re simply looking for an entertaining ride and can overlook the nagging inconsistencies, *Disclosure Day* ticks all the boxes. Or you could just rewatch *E.T.*
*Disclosure Day* is now playing in theaters.