Disclosure Day Movie Review

If you’re looking for a movie where the plot fills the screen continually with aliens and humans making an attempt to get to know one another, this isn’t that movie. I liked this enough to recommend, but I didn’t love it. ​Quell your expectations, and you’ll enjoy yourself more.
So, it felt like two movies about halfway through, then it finally gets back on track.

“Disclosure Day” is more of an exploration into the possibility that we’re not alone, rather than a big action picture where we’re fighting with an entity. That theory of alien life has always been contemplated by some but pushed aside by so many. That’s why movies like this allow us to consider what we’d do if we came across a being from the skies that makes an impact and ask, would we be friendly or aggressive?

The beginning of this new Spielberg production ponders that question and examines how we treat animals. Are we kind? Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), who has knowledge of the creatures, is making efforts to disclose the truth to the world and has witnessed the unforgivable truth about how humans act toward an entity from another planet. He is being run down by those who are hiding the secret, which is what the middle of the film focuses on, and we could, honestly, do without. The car chases are a bit yawn-inducing.

He has introduced all of this to his friend Jane, played by Eve Hewson. What is done to her after she’s kidnapped, yes, kidnapped, has the audience leaning forward in their seats. She’s unaware of how deeply involved in government secrets Kellner is and is used in a classic thrilling scene by Noah Scanlon, a wonderful Colin Firth, the head of Wardex, who has Area 51 under wraps.

Emily Blunt plays Margaret Fairchild, a woman presenting the weather one moment and speaking an alien tongue the next. She suddenly knows everything about anyone and understands everything about anything. She’s unhappy about what’s in her head and about knowing its purpose and her higher calling. She’s astounding in this role. You won’t be able to get her face and her eyes out of your head long after the film is over.

There are humorous moments, but some action scenes seem out of place. Maybe I’m being too harsh, because running from “the man” is bound to involve some dangerous situations for any director to include. But, but… it’s too unbelievable to let go of. Had the seemingly obligatory chase been left out? Better film. “Technical sequences” are marvelous, the acting is “out of this world.” Yeah. I had to go there. The cast works to make you feel for what has been discovered and for what we have become. Can we be better people? At the end, there is a message. You need to listen to, and you must appreciate, the soul-stirring score. I won’t tell you more. See it and decide whether we’re alone or not. Spielberg doesn’t hit all the marks with “Disclosure Day,” but it’s not a “skip it.” See it during the day at the lower matinee price, or wait for streaming.