The father of the summer blockbuster returns to a genre that gave birth to some of his biggest movies. Steven Spielberg jumps back into the cinematic world of science-fiction with “Disclosure Day”. It’s the latest sci-fi venture from the filmmaker who gave us “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”, “Minority Report”, “War of the Worlds”, and so on. His latest is another ambitious swing. But it’s not one that will leave the same lasting impression as his other films.
“Disclosure Day” sees Spielberg reteaming with his frequent collaborator, screenwriter David Koepp. Together they tap into Spielberg’s long held fascination with the unexplained. And high on his list of the unexplained is the simple question – are we alone in the universe? That question drives “Disclosure Day” while also asking how much the government knows and how long have they been keeping it from us?
That’s more than enough for a compelling movie, especially with Steven Spielberg at the helm. We certainly get glimmers of that potential in “Disclosure Day”. When at its best, it plays like an extended conspiracy episode of “The X-Files”. At its worst, it’s a sluggishly delivered thriller that struggles to maintain any real suspense and that isn’t nearly as heady as it aims to be. More frustrating, after an overly long buildup, it hits us with an ending that lands with a surprisingly uninspired thud.
That said, “Disclosure Day” has its strengths, one of them being the cast. Josh O‘Connor plays Daniel Kellner, a cybersecurity expert turned whistleblower who steals long hidden classified information regarding alien life from a secret deep-state contractor called the Wardex Corporation. As a former employee of Wardex, Daniel also swiped a mysterious piece of alien technology which immediately puts him in the crosshairs of the company’s ruthless CEO, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth). Daniel is forced to go on the run, along with his former girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) who Noah has targeted.
Meanwhile in Kansas City, a local TV weather woman named Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), begins having unexplainable episodes. She suddenly has strange premonitions and speaks in languages she doesn’t know. It comes to a head after she uncontrollably starts talking in an otherworldly tongue while live on the air. Her actions stuns her colleagues and worries her slub of a boyfriend, Jackson (Wyatt Russell). It also gets the attention of Noah who is determined to bring her in.
Both Daniel and Margaret find an ally in Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), a Wardex defector who now leads an underground ‘truth movement’. Hugo knows the information that Wardex is hiding on behalf of the U.S. government, and he knows Daniel and Margaret are the keys. Hugo is ready to disclose it to the world, but Noah doesn’t think people are ready. And with the planet on the brink of World War III, Noah is willing to do anything in his power to keep the truth from getting out.
The battle between disclosing the truth and protecting it is the conflict at the heart of “Disclosure Day”. Meanwhile the depths of that truth is slowly drip-fed to us over time. It’s intriguing at first but maddening later on. Essentially, Spielberg drags things out, leading to several notable frustrations – scenes lasting longer than necessary, conversations where nothing seems to be said, and too many instances of characters stuck in states of confusion. This makes the already lengthy 145 minutes feel even longer.
Still, it’s Spielberg so there is some expert craftsmanship on display. And the cast is top-to-bottom strong. Also, those X-Files moments are pretty enticing. But while the premise and the pieces are there, getting from point to point can be a drag. What action there is can be thrilling, but every bit of it is shown in the trailer. And the finish seems like a well-intended miss. There is a gutsier ending out there that could have really made things interesting. Instead, Spielberg goes a route that feels safe and even a bit lazy.
VERDICT – 2.5 STARS
Keith & the Movies 
Yep, no thanks. Glad to know I can pass when it hits streaming…
It’s a tough one. I like a lot about it. And I would even say it’s worth seeing. But I found myself internally begging the movie to pick up speed and really capitalize on its potential.
Well it’s Spielberg, and our Emily, so I’ll give it a watch.
Emily is quite good in it. I just wish she had a little better material.
I love Spielberg but honestly this whole movie looked like an extended episode of The X Files .I had zero interest in seeing it in theatres and after reading a few reviews and talking to a few who have seen it , I’ll wait till it streams . Plus the whole premise of aliens as a subject bores me now .I could frankly care less .
That extended episode of the X-Files I mentioned was actually my favorite part of it. Unfortunately it doesn’t ever go beyond that into something truly memorable. I was disappointed.
Good luck with that. Do you truly think this world is all there is with its stupidity and greediness in many ways. The government knows. Why do they clamp down on their files if Aliens is a long and boring story strap yourself on for a long and bumpy ride.
Well, I am among those who really “want to believe” in aliens, government conspiracy, and all that, so I was very excited about this movie, but after reading so many negative reviews, I will pass.
It’s worth checking out on streaming. But not something to rush to the theater to see.
Agree with your review. I was with the movie for the first hour, when you are still trying to learn what is going on, but then it just got to be too much hocus pocus and quite a bit of just running around. Spielberg does have a tendency to get overly sentimental at times, and I thought he gave in to that impulse a time or two in this one. I think overall a misfire.
A misfire for me too and that’s really disappointing. I had high hopes for this one.
I recommended Coyote vs. Acme to The Wiggles last weekend ❤️💛💜💙
Emily was great but it was car chases with a ridiculously stupid ending. 90 year old ET in a wheel chair? Where was it the 2:35? Why do ETs need two programed humans? They are advanced far beyond us and good just beam it in. Waste of $
The writing and plot made no sense AT ALL. So many internal inconsistencies to the story. Totally inconsistent too. Sad…
This review is correct. The film was a major disappointment. This review is full of grammatical errors & misspellings. If I can have an app to help me edit, I expect a professional outlet to have a failsafe program to correct errors. Was it AI slop or just sloppy editing?
I appreciate you pointing it out. After checking over it I discovered the edited version didn’t save over the original draft. Thanks for mentioning it.
Was disappointing, to say the least. I’m a big Emily Blunt fan, and she delivered as expected. But the story is inexplicably weak, a point it drives home in the final scene where we are deprived of the message from the aliens. And what’s with all the gd car chases?! I was ready to walk out. Don’t expect to see a lot of aliens or interactions with aliens. That’s how bad it was.
Keith, i recently saw this at the theater. And this might be a case where I agree with your review -Too long and too much conversation. And yet, I still enjoyed it.
Here is my verdict-a solid thriller, clearly told, good-natured, smart, and funny. Better than War of the Worlds and I might even place it on par with Minority Report. just an opinion of course. (I wonder if the superb theater speakers had something to do with it).
The writing and plot were so bad-nowhere nearly as good as MR!
There was certainly some enjoyment for me too which is why it landed dead-center of my ratings scale. But overall I wanted more and felt like the kept teasing us that more was coming.
Understood. I approached it on a very simplistic level – A man is trying to get away with something important, and a bunch of people are trying to stop him,and everything else is Supplement to that. so it was a chase movie for me. But I do understand it had potential to be great.
went to see it thinking it would be lots of fun, turns out it was complete crap, I should get to see another movie for free after enduring this goes nowhere movie not good enough for television
The X-Files comparison makes this sound both intriguing and frustrating. A government conspiracy involving alien technology should create plenty of suspense, but stretching the mystery across 145 minutes only works if the eventual disclosure feels worthwhile. It sounds like a bolder ending could have made a significant difference.
Great review Keith! Yes this was a disappointment to the nth degree.
Question, are you feeling burned out? Haven’t been noticing as many reviews of late (we’ve all been there)!
Not really burned out. Just taking a slight break from daily reviews. I usually do this around this time of the year. But no worries, I have three I’m working on now. LOL