At The Movies with James Phelan: Disclosure Day
Disclosure Day
Director Steven Spielberg has had a career-long fascination with the prospect of extra-terrestrial life being out there and the likelihood that they have visited us down here. His obsession goes the whole way back to an early amateur teen film effort ‘Firelight’ that was shot on Super 8mm with friends.
In a professional setting he graduated onto ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and ‘E.T.’, which plugged his obsession into the cinema-going zeitgeist. What separated Spielberg’s vision from the majority of his peers’ takes on outer space was that he universally sought to depict our alien visitors as positive and peaceful. (He deviated majorly for ‘War of the Worlds’, but that film is a rare exception in his body of work).
Being primarily positive about extra-terrestrials is no small feat. Having aliens as aggressive human-hating global-conquering antagonists is an easy way to structure a film. Yet Spielberg’s humane direction is mostly the road less travelled and a road he created decades ago. And he’s back on familiar ground here where he plunges the audience straight into the action as a crusading government worker Daniel seeks to expose secret files about UFOs and the unsavoury treatment of their occupants.
Daniel was hired to protect these secrets but now he has turned whistleblower. Though he is struggling to get the word out due to the dogged pursuit of a shadowy state agency headed up by an operative called Noah (Colin Firth), who fervently believes that humankind is not ready to discover that we are not alone in the universe.
Simultaneously to this ongoing chase storyline, a local TV weatherwoman Margaret (Emily Blunt) finds herself having a decidedly odd day. From suddenly speaking fluently in languages she has never studied to instinctively knowing the innermost thoughts of anyone she encounters, Margaret is inexplicably drawn towards Daniel’s truth-exposing mission.
Though any depiction of aliens is held back for a long time, the story is propelled along by humans exploiting a powerful piece of alien technology. There are three of these devices in play and the use and abuse of this tech gives the film many of its eye-catching set pieces.
Naturally, Spielberg’s visual flair is sharply present here, from sudden crop circles to propulsive car chases to an imaginative use of a cloaking invisibility ability in a warehouse.
Best of all is probably an intense train action apex where Spielberg expertly ratchets up the tension and stakes in a manner that would make Hitchcock proud.
This film originated with a story from Spielberg himself. He passed these original thoughts onto a regular writing collaborator David Koepp and what transpires is gripping but it’s also a little bit familiar.
Maybe the film suffers because the niche genre of nice aliens that Spielberg popularised is now a crowded field.
Imitators in film and especially on TV have churned this ground ever since Spielberg broke it as new ground. Is it a coincidence that the closest comparison I can find to describe this film is as a really classy ‘X Files’ movie?
Back in the 70’s and 80’s it felt like Spielberg had our attention in this area in an exclusive manner that is hard to replicate in 2026. In a resurgent box office year, will ‘Disclosure Day’ catch fire? Competing with clones and phones is a task we can trust Spielberg with but even for a genius, true magic can be elusive.
The spell he casts here is a little fitful but the peaks alone are worth the price of admission.
