Opening in theaters on June 12 is ‘Disclosure Day,’ directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by David Koepp. The film stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell, and Colin Firth.
Opening in theaters on June 12 is ‘Disclosure Day,’ directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by David Koepp. The film stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell, and Colin Firth.
Emily Blunt in ‘Disclosure Day’, directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Opening in theaters on June 12 is ‘Disclosure Day,’ directed by Steven Spielberg from a script by David Koepp. The film stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo, Eve Hewson, Wyatt Russell, and Colin Firth.
Related Article: ‘Jurassic Park’ Writer David Koepp Attached to New Take on ‘Westworld’
Initial Thoughts
(L to R) Colman Domingo is Hugo Wakefield, Tommy Martinez is Santiago, Emily Blunt is Margaret Fairchild, and Josh O’Connor is Dr. Daniel Kellner in ‘Disclosure Day’, directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Alien encounters? Check. Government conspiracies? Check. Reflections on childhood? Check. And all directed by Steven Spielberg? Double check. With ‘Disclosure Day’ – his first science fiction film since 2018 and his first involving aliens since 2008’s ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ – the 79-year-old filmmaker revisits themes from many of his greatest hits, most significantly ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind,’ while still showing that he can create a suspenseful, masterfully paced and filmed mystery-adventure.
David Koepp’s (‘Jurassic Park‘) script may take a while to coalesce and is pockmarked with a few holes, but Spielberg’s expert craftsmanship, a typically lyrical yet understated score from John Williams, and compassionate performances still make this an enjoyably old-fashioned epic from a filmmaker who can do them in his sleep.
Story and Direction
(L to R) Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor in ‘Disclosure Day’, directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
The year is 2026 and conflicts are escalating around the world, with the U.S., Russia, and North Korea in particular all facing off. Meanwhile, a former cybersecurity expert named Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) is on the run from his former employer, the Wardex Corporation, headed by the chilly, obsessive Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth). Daniel has stolen several valuable items from Wardex, including a trove of never-before-seen videos and a mysterious artifact, and Scanlon wants them back – even if it means death for Daniel and his ex-girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson), who’s been swept up in his plight.
At the same time, a Kansas City weatherperson named Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) is suddenly able to read people’s minds, speak in other languages, and have visions of events that she should have no knowledge of, much to her goofy boyfriend’s (Wyatt Russell) consternation. When she experiences what appears to be an on-air breakdown and speaks in what sounds like a series of guttural clicks, she attracts the attention of not just Wardex but the underground organization for which Daniel is now operating, which is led by Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo). Hugo and his team are planning to reveal something to the world that involves both Daniel and Margaret – and which Scanlon is determined to stop at all costs.
With the trailers for the film giving away quite a bit, it’s no spoiler to say that ‘Disclosure Day’ (the very title is a reveal, in fact) deals with the question of not just whether we are alone in the universe but if our government has covered up the truth about it for nearly 80 years. Since this is a Spielberg film, you can guess the answer, but what’s remarkable is that the director still manages to draw you into the narrative and keep the viewer locked into the film despite a number of rickety, uneven moments in Koepp’s screenplay. The heroes often escape being captured way too easily, for example (the Wardex goons don’t seem to understand the concept of surrounding a building), and there are devices in the story – like that artifact Daniel is carrying with him – that seem far too conveniently capable of getting the script out of narrative corners.
Director Steven Spielberg on the set of ‘Disclosure Day’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
The first act plays almost like an ‘X-Files’ episode in some ways, and the film takes its time to leisurely disclose (ha ha) the complete explanation of what’s happening. But things kick into gear in the second act, as Spielberg stages two masterful chase scenes – one involving a fleet of cars and the other, a real knuckle-biter, featuring a car and a locomotive – that remind us just how good the guy is at choreographing old-fashioned, serial-style action, with the help of fluid, focused camerawork from longtime partner Janusz Kaminski.
Toward the end, ‘Disclosure Day’ – like ‘Close Encounters’ and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial‘ before it – leans into the sentimental, the mystical, and even the spiritual a bit, while creating a sense of urgency over just what the title event entails. The film also strikes a compassionate chord as well: no one is better at making the blockbuster personal than Spielberg, and the film’s concluding scenes call for understanding and a kind of faith – if not in the secrets of the universe but in humanity itself.
Cast and Performances
Josh O’Connor in ‘Disclosure Day’, directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Everyone here is in top form, with Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt particularly effective as two seemingly ordinary people who abruptly have an enormous responsibility thrust upon them and handle it in very different ways, Blunt especially leaves it all out there as Margaret, projecting genuine terror at what she’s tasked with doing, while O’Connor’s Daniel accepts the challenge but is almost overwhelmed by it anyway.
Providing the gravitas as one-time allies turned enemies are Firth and Domingo, with the former effective as a man who has lost touch with his humanity and the latter acting as its moral center. As Jane, Daniel’s ex-girlfriend and a former novitiate undergoing her own crisis of faith, Eve Hewson continues to build her growing resume of performances with a combination of warmth and steeliness, the latter apparent in several scenes where she’s not exactly acting of her own free will.
Final Thoughts
Colin Firth (center, standing) in ‘Disclosure Day’, directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Like any artist with a long history of work, Steven Spielberg is at a point in his career and life where he’s reflecting on the past and re-examining some of the themes of earlier films. ‘Close Encounters’ presented alien visitors as benign (if tricksy) and ‘E.T.’ presented them as avatars for missing family members, while ‘War of the Worlds’ twisted them into ruthless mass murderers. ‘Disclosure Day’ offers them in another kind of light, while also touching upon the growing distrust of our own institutions that are supposed to enlighten and inform us.
It’s a heady mix of material that doesn’t always cohere effectively, making this fall somewhat short of top-tier Spielberg. But it’s great fun to have him once again ask the questions that have powered some of his finest films, and to do so via the genre through which he has provided such fantastic entertainment in the past.
‘Disclosure Day’ receives a score of 85 out of 100.
(L to R) Emily Blunt, Director Steven Spielberg, and Wyatt Russell on the set of ‘Disclosure Day’, directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
What is the plot of ‘Disclosure Day’?
As a massive government conspiracy unravels, a targeted whistleblower races against time to bring about the extraordinary event that will change human history forever: the day of ultimate alien disclosure.
Who is in the cast of ‘Disclosure Day’?
‘Disclosure Day’, directed by Steven Spielberg. Photo: Universal Pictures.
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