Movies & TV / Reviews
Disclosure Day Review
Image Credit: Niko Tavernise/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Loading...
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
Written By: David Koepp and Steven Spielberg
Runtime: 145 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG-13 for action/violence, some bloody images, and strong language.
Josh O’Connor – Daniel Kellner
Emily Blunt – Margaret Fairchild
Colin Firth – Noah Scanlon
Colman Domingo – Hugo Wakefield
Eve Hewson – Jane Blankenship
Wyatt Russell – Jackson
Tommy Martinez – Santiago
Henry Lloyd Hughes – Boyd
Legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg returns to science fiction in the new original event film, Disclosure Day. Just as in some of his past movies, Spielberg explores alien visitation to planet Earth, utilizing a very grounded, realistic approach. Although the script definitely could’ve used some polish, Disclosure Day definitely shows some of Spielberg’s classic style at work in an overall solid effort.
Disclosure Day interestingly dives right into the narrative, almost as if the first act or first episode of a longer television series has been omitted. This is easily the best part of Spielberg’s narrative because it quickly raises the stakes while adding immediate intrigue. It’s helpful that the rest of the central plot’s dots are filled in later.
What is clear from the outset is that Daniel Kellner (O’Connor) is a former cybersecurity analyst from a covert agency named Waived Reporting, Development and Extraction, or WARDEX for short. WARDEX’s chief goal is to safeguard all evidence regarding extraterrestrial visitation on Earth, dating back to the Roswell incident of 1947.
Connor purloined WARDEX’s entire archive and plans to publicize it for the entire world to see in a “Disclosure Day,” receiving help from the mysterious Hugo Wakefield (Domingo). Hugo leads his own covert group, acting in direct opposition to WARDEX, who want to gift the truth — that humans are not alone in the universe to the rest of the world.
However, the unyielding, bullish head of WARDEX, Noah Scanlon (Firth), wants to keep those secrets under lock and key, and he’s willing to do so by any means necessary, even if it means kidnapping Kellner’s girlfriend, Jane (Hewson), a former Catholic novitiate. The plot picks up after Kellner has already stolen WARDEX’s data, and Scanlon’s minions pick up Jane, offering to trade her for their treasured archive.
While Kellner and Jane escape and seek to evade WARDEX’s clutches, Kansas City weather girl Margaret Fairchild (Blunt) begins to experience strange phenomena after a surreal encounter with a cardinal. She’s now able to speak fluently in every language, and everyone’s life story instantly pops into her brain.
Hugo believes that both Daniel and Margaret hold the key to blowing the lid off WARDEX, as they share a connection they don’t even remember from their past. With WARDEX hot on everyone’s trail, time is of the essence to finally unveil the truth of the universe.
Spielberg very much crafts Disclosure Day as a spiritual sequel to his classic, similarly themed 1977 feature, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Although not a direct continuation, Disclosure Day presents an experience that resembles the feeling of Close Encounters, capturing the desperation and desire to unlock the secrets of intelligent alien life.
Disclosure Day grippingly takes things a few steps further from Close Encounters, as Spielberg examines how certain parties would be desperate to maintain secrecy over alien life through Scanlon, along with how the existence of intelligent alien life would challenge the worldview of people of religious faith, such as Jane.
Although Spielberg and Koepp frame Daniel and Margaret as the movie’s dual protagonists, it’s the emotional character arcs of Scanlon and Jane who prove far more compelling. Jane experiences the most profound arc in the film as her devout religious views come into conflict with her newly found truths.
A character like Jane easily could have been a thankless role who disappears into the background of such a film. Thankfully, Spielberg maintains her agency throughout the narrative, rather than casting aside her emotional conflict and relationship with Kellner.
Firth brings an interesting pragmatism to WARDEX’s bullish overseer, Noah Scanlon. Although Scanlon takes questionable methods in his pursuit of guarding WARDEX’s secrets, his views are not without justification, as he genuinely believes revealing their closely guarded secrets could destroy the world order and cause global panic.
Unfortunately, Hewson and Firth deliver the strongest performances in the film, far outshining Kellner and Blunt. Kellner does acceptable work here, but something about his performance lacks a stronger charisma and presence to make Daniel a more intriguing protagonist.
Blunt delivers a fun, multi-faceted performance, handling the more emotional and humorous parts of her role. But considering her yin-and-yang role with O’Connor’s Kellner, their energy levels never quite match up.
Despite being nearly 80 years old, Spielberg still proves he has the magic touch in creating arresting, awe-inspiring magic onscreen with some expertly crafted sequences. There are two impressive chase sequences peppered throughout the movie, including one that involves a car colliding with a speeding train. Another amazing sequence occurs at a news station. Spielberg once again proves that he conceives unfettered magic onscreen, doing something incredible, despite its simplicity.
The most fantastical and unrealistic aspect of Disclosure Day is evident in Spielberg’s boundless hope and optimism for the human race. The central plot essentially showcases a battle of wills between Hugo’s hope and idealism vs. Scanlon’s cynicism. However, from a real-world point of view, it’s difficult to believe that revealing the truth about alien life would not cause global panic and chaos. That’s not a knock against the movie, merely an observation.
Koepp’s script does suffer in characterizing the WARDEX group. Rather than efficient and highly-skilled secret agents, they come off as remarkably dimwitted. Throughout the movie, they prove themselves less competent than the Keystone Cops, which sometimes breaks the movie’s overall immersion and sense of realism. Multiple sequences involving the WARDEX agents in pursuit detract from the movie’s narrative credibility, showing characters escaping scrapes in ways that make no sense.
Additionally, although WARDEX operates under the oversight of the Department of Defense, Spielberg largely lampshades the presence of heavier government oversight. At a certain point, it becomes hard to believe WARDEX can maintain such extreme autonomy over the search and apprehension of Kellner without higher-ups stepping in or taking over.
Nevertheless, Spielberg presents one of his strongest directorial efforts in recent memory in Disclosure Day, bolstered by strong direction and pacing, plus some mostly well-acted performances, albeit with some nonsensical moments. Spielberg shows he still has the magic touch where it counts.
Where To Watch Disclosure Day
Disclosure Day arrives exclusively in theaters on June 12. Ticket and showtime information are available at the movie’s website.
