Disclosure Day ★★★★

Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) and Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) are connected. They do not know it immediately, but there is something within each that bonds them, pulling at them and drawing them into action. There is the feeling that they are in the wrong place, that they must move and find their calling wherever it may be. Steven Spielberg has shown this type of character before, most notably in Close Encounters of the Third Kind as Roy Nealy (Richard Dreyfuss) experiences a close encounter with extraterrestrial life and becomes obsessed with an image implanted in his head. He has no idea where the landmark he sees originates, he just feels compelled and consumed by the image. As Roy will discover, he is not alone. He finally identifies where the landmark is by a news report he sees on television, then journeys there to experience whatever he is being called to experience and there are others who have made the same trek. They are all there to be made witness to something spectacular.

Disclosure Day is a film about many things. However, as is true to Spielberg, there is a beating humanistic heart within. The film asks the question: if there was undeniable proof of extraterrestrial life, could humanity meet the moment, accept this life-altering reality, and unite as a global community to experience this wonder together? What Close Encounters of the Third Kind produces in its climax for a close-knit bunch of scientists and a handful of people called to being present, Disclosure Day creates for the whole world. Discovering proof of extraterrestrial life in Spielberg’s films feels like a missing puzzle piece of existence finally slipping into place, something that helps the world make sense and satisfies a longing within humanity to see that image made whole.

Disclosure Day parallels this revelation with Daniel and Margaret’s own journey of self-discovery. Daniel is a cybersecurity expert for a company led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) that works to keep the evidence of extraterrestrial life confidential. Spielberg and writer David Koepp drop the audience into the story in medias res with Daniel in possession of video evidence he stole and having to turn it back over to Noah and his team in exchange for Jane (Eve Hewson), Daniel’s girlfriend who the company kidnapped. With the help of a team led by Hugo (Colman Domingo), Daniel is working on going “full disclosure” with the information he has and has no intention of actually turning over the evidence. Giving the slip to Noah and his goons, what ensues is a cat-and-mouse chase as Daniel races towards Hugo’s hidden location and prepares to give humanity the knowledge that he believes they deserve. Margaret, meanwhile, is a local Kansas City meteorologist. During an ordinary day at her home with her boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell), Margaret is visited by a cardinal. Thereafter, she is capable of speaking all languages and learning everything about a person by simply looking them in the eyes. Neither know one another, but both are united in a feeling of being overwhelmed with information and feeling. As Margaret sees the world through emotion and art, Daniel sees the world through mathematics. They are two parts of a beautiful whole, feeling disconnected from where they should be and who they should be with but at first, being unable to place that feeling.

In many respects, Disclosure Day is a story of trauma. Spielberg has often mused and worked his own personal traumas into his films, laying them all particularly bare in the semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans. For Daniel and Margaret, they both have childhood traumas. They have this specific event that unites them, that has opened their eyes and granted them an empathy and understanding towards the world despite the fact that they have repressed the memory of the specific event. It has divided their lives into a before and after. They are finding their purpose now, discovering the hidden truth within themselves, and confronting it. As Disclosure Day asks if humanity is ready to accept the truth of extraterrestrial life or if it will destroy itself, the film also asks whether Margaret, Daniel, Spielberg himself, and the viewer alike are ready to confront the truths within ourselves, the repressed memories and events that we tucked away in our childhood bedrooms, and that forever altered the way we look at and experience the world around us. Disclosure Day is hopeful. It is earnest and sentimental. However, it is also cynical in a very personal way: the insecurity, fear of knowing thyself, and a belief that this truth will overwhelm the individual to the point of destruction. Perhaps humanity is not ready. Perhaps we are not ready. But, no matter that answer, the truth is we must push through and find out.

In this, the story of Jane feels like the heart and soul of Disclosure Day. She was a novitiate at a convent. Sister Maura (Elizabeth Marvel) helped raise her and teach her in the faith. However, Jane left the church. She did not lose her faith in God, but she did lose her faith in His divinity, as he says. Towards the end of Disclosure Day, as Jane knows the truth about to be revealed about extraterrestrial life, she calls Sister Maura and asks if the reveal of this truth worries her, if the Sister believes that this would threaten humanity’s belief in God. However, Sister Maura pushes back. She not only embraces the idea that, of course, extraterrestrial life exists but that it expands and beautifies God’s creation. Moreso, she challenges Jane, stating that Jane did not leave the church out of a loss of faith in God’s divinity but out of a loss of faith in humanity. Many characters in Disclosure Day are composites of Spielberg himself or serve as audience surrogates, experiencing and being challenged by such shocking images and revelations. However, Jane stands out as an individual who, at first, urges Daniel not to go full disclosure, believing the world cannot handle the truth. It is her spiritual journey towards understanding and believing again in humanity’s capacity to care, unite, and experience something awe-inspiring together that stands out as something Disclosure Day is out to create in the viewer. Spielberg knows the audience and, to some extent, himself are as jaded and cynical as Jane is, hardened by seeing humanity at its bleakest and most destructive. This is a call to not give up, to believe in one another, and to fight for a world that can know and love all existence. Disclosure Day treats this empathy and understanding as superpowers, strengthening our own individual self and the whole of society by being imbued with the capacity to care.

Disclosure Day is a poignant and powerful film. In many ways, Disclosure Day stands as a “why” behind Spielberg’s career-long exploration of extraterrestrial life. It is the capacity to believe and feel awe that attracts and entrances. Disclosure Day’s final 30 minutes exemplify this in all the best ways, delivering perhaps the best finale of Spielberg’s storied career. Akin to The Post, this is a story about pursuing and revealing truth. It is no surprise that Spielberg would then turn to the news as a medium for this with the “full disclosure” occurring and a news anchor, portrayed by a brilliant and film stealing Courtney Grace, delivering the story. She is seeing the images on Daniel’s tapes for the first time as they are being played worldwide. Her shock, awe, and confusion, her flailing attempts to make sense of what we are witnessing sells every key emotional beat of this climax. The images themselves, often playing on iconic moments of claimed extraterrestrial visitations, play on the audience’s emotions wonderfully. These images draw out considerable empathy and wonder with Grace’s delivery, John Williams’s score, and Spielberg’s composition of these images delivering an otherworldly and jaw dropping sequence. Throughout Disclosure Day, there are clips of news stories about the brewing World War III and these are worked in here with even soldiers on the front stopping to watch this news. The montage includes people from all over the world watching this report, seeing these images together for the first time. It is true edge-of-your-seat filmmaking with a raw emotion pouring out of every moment that is near impossible to resist. Perhaps our real world is too disconnected and jaded for these moments to land emotionally, but Disclosure Day dreams that it is possible and while some viewers may be more skeptical, these final 30 minutes leave one longing for a world where humanity can unite as a global community.

The technical brilliance of this final act is at the core of why I found Disclosure Day so powerful. However, the artistry within it is found throughout. Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński create countless beautiful images and incredibly choreographed and composed shots. They are too numerous to list exhaustively, but a oner at Margaret’s studio when she is first imbued with this all-knowing ability, a tracking shot of Daniel at a farmhouse that leads into a pulse pounding and brilliantly staged car chase, and a classic Spielberg push-in that pans around from a deer’s eyes to an alien’s eyes are among the true standout moments in Disclosure Day. The use of lighting is consistently brilliant. The flash of cameras behind a window, the harsh glow of news studio spotlights, or a warm glow behind a little girl walking into a house out of her repressed memories all serve to create striking images that both catch the eye and stir the soul.

There is a nimbleness to Disclosure Day. Disclosure Day is never consumed by exposition, instead trusting the audience to understand key elements without needing to elaborate. The main driving force of the story is akin to Catch Me If You Can’s cat-and-mouse thrills with elements of Minority Report’s science fiction tools of pursuit and interrogation. The science fiction elements added into Disclosure Day are masterful examples of “show, don’t tell” in Koepp’s script, putting every bit to use and allowing our imaginations to run wild. Disclosure Day is the kind of film that is exciting to watch. There is plenty of action, brilliant car chases and a train scene that wows in its scale and execution. The story and every development offers surprise and anticipation, the viewer hanging on every beat to see what wonders Spielberg will reveal and explore next. This is blockbuster storytelling and filmmaking at its very best, taking the viewer on an unforgettable ride.

The cast is brilliant. Grace, as mentioned, steals the final act but before then, the incredible ensemble cast more than lives up to expectations. Emily Blunt has never been better. Her raw emotion – especially in a panic attack scene and just before the climax – is a wonder to behold. Blunt captures the frantic feeling within Margaret’s soul with so much vulnerability that it is near impossible to not be moved. Josh O’Connor’s soft and kind eyes have a humanity pouring out of them. Colman Domingo’s velvety and calming delivery, Colin Firth’s steely and cunning performance, Eve Hewson’s grace and vulnerability, and Elizabeth Marvel’s thoughtful and gentle demeanor all make their characters into fascinating and stirring portraits of humanity in its every facet.

Disclosure Day is a wonder. As a film in conversation with and elaborating upon Steven Spielberg’s career long examination of humanity, Disclosure Day is stirring and beautiful. As a blockbuster piece of science fiction entertainment, it is pulse pounding, exciting, and thrilling. Disclosure Day is a film that truly ticks every box, transporting the audience to a world of possibility and wonder. As it entertains and moves in equal measure, it leaves one with the question: can we handle the truth?