SYNOPSIS: In “Disclosure Day,” the new Steven Spielberg alien thriller now playing in theatres, a television meteorologist’s on-air possession reveals verifiable proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, triggering a worldwide awareness.
CAST: Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Colman Domingo. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
REVIEW: “Disclosure Day” delivers aliens and thrills in equal parts to sentimentality and spectacle. A high-stakes conspiracy thriller, it plays like Steven Spielberg directed an elaborate episode of “The X-Files.”
Emily Blunt plays Margaret Fairchild, a former journalist now working as a Kansas City television meteorologist. When she experiences an on-air possession and spouts a strange jumble of clicks, pops and grunts, cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) identifies the sounds as an alien language.
“I can see them,” Margaret says. “What’s happening to me?”
As clips of her possession go viral, evidence of extraterrestrial life emerges, despite the best efforts of government organizations and Wardex corporation head Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) to cover up any and all revelations.
Working together, Margaret and Daniel fight for full transparency; a disclosure day when the truth is finally revealed. “Full disclosure to the whole world,” says Daniel. “All at once.”
Spielberg’s other alien films—“Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” and “War of the Worlds”—are more intimate than this one, respectively focusing on family stories of connection, friendship and survival. Here the focus is widened to ask a simple question in a complicated, overstuffed film: What will happen when humankind discovers we’re not alone in the universe?
It’s an ontological point of view, pondering the world’s reaction to alien life, wondering if mutual acceptance is possible as it weaves together a world-changing revelation, shadowy government conspiracies, thrills and lens flares. In many ways it feels like classic Amblin, but the perspective is different. It’s not simply about acceptance; it’s about optimism in the aftermath of first contact.
It is also, in almost equal measure to the alien story, a chase film that allows Spielberg to stage a wild action set piece that sees Margaret and Daniel jumping between cars and a speeding train. It’s a big and brash sequence that brings together Spielberg’s technical mastery, John Williams’ exciting score, brilliant cinematography courtesy of longtime collaborator Janusz Kamiński and loads of practical effects.
It’s a highlight in an overlong film is otherwise a mixed bag.
On the upside are terrific performances from the leads.
From the tense, four-minute possession scene, to taking on the bulk of the film’s emotional and physical weight, Emily Blunt impresses.
It’s also fun to see Colin Firth and Colman Domingo as former colleagues now acting as avatars for secrecy vs. truth. As Scanlon, Firth plays against type, embracing his character’s villainy in ways that, were this a pantomime, would turn the audience into a sea of boos every time he appears on screen. An interrogation scene between Scanlon and Jane (played by a terrific Eve Hewson) a former nun who happens to be Daniel’s girlfriend, is a highlight.
Domingo balances the equation as the film’s moral core. It’s a difficult role, one that requires him to spout loads of exposition, but his calming presence grounds the film’s otherworldly action.
On the downside, as Spielberg, working from a screenplay by David Koepp, explores modern concerns like fear of AI and tech, faith, misinformation and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, the film becomes repetitious and unfocussed.
Add to that useless government operatives who create plot holes big enough to fly a spaceship through, and you’re left with a movie that grows ever more frustrating as the end credits approach. The movie’s desire for us to believe in aliens is easier to take than some of the logic lapses Spielberg wants us to buy into.
Still, “Disclosure Day” offers enough Spielbergian treats—like a cool shot of an intended victim’s face reflected in the blade of the knife that may, or may not, be used to kill them— to cover some of the script’s plot holes and clichés.
