Disclosure Day: Spielberg wants us to Wonder Again
By Michael Cox
Originally Published: June 11th, 2026
“If you release that information, it will upend the natural order…” – Noah Scanlan
Disclosure Day is sci-fi thriller directed by Steven Spielberg that begins shortly after Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) joins in a conspiracy to fully disclose highly classified evidence that we are not alone in the universe all the while Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) begins to have episodes of unexplainable abilities. They both seemed destined to meet under life-threatening circumstances while the government tries everything in their power to stop them.
Disclosure Day is not going to be what you expect it to be. Don’t let that be a detractor, though. Audiences are going to have issues with that because they’re going to be expecting this film to be one thing or another. An action-thriller like the marketing suggests. A sequel to Close Encounters like some theorized. A return to the Spielberg that we know and remember like others hoped? Not the case. It really feels like an open call to take films on their own terms. One could say that the film’s ideals of aliens and humanity is outdated and disconnected from reality, which was one of my critiques of the film before I actually sat with it and the film forces you to do so because it never delivers on this big speech on how you should feel. I mean, with Spielberg, you expect this sentimentality and schmaltz, but you don’t exactly get that here. Because I’m waiting for things that the film is not. I’m waiting for the film to explain itself in some way. I am forced to sit with questions that may not be answered. I am waiting for that big speech, quite frankly. But it doesn’t come when I expect it. I expected this film to be dealing with the consequences of the possibility that we aren’t alone in the universe. But it’s not that. It’s not a reckoning, but a revival. Remembering to be in awe of the possibility and remembering a core tenet of humanity that seems to have been lost in recent times: empathy.
Through one core event that would surely rock a world unbound by chaos that shakes us now instead the normal perils of nuclear holocaust or climate change, maybe we could finally unite instead of letting the fear of the unknown keep us shaken. It is not a film to keep us frightened, but one to finally let us to take a step forward. The film is not the Spielberg of old that we are nostalgic for, but one acknowledging the times while doing what he does best as a filmmaker and allow us to wonder again.
Steven Spielberg has returned to what he is known for: the sci-fi blockbuster. After what feels like a slew of passion projects and studio-mandated Oscar films or ways to make box office, Spielberg hasn’t returned to the genre to what people know him for. Both West Side Story and The Fabelmans were clear passion projects, with one more personal and cerebral (The Fabelmans) than the other while one fully delving into the side of the director that casual audiences swoon over (West Side Story) and then we have Ready Player One, The BFG and The Post and some others. Less said about them, the better (even though I really liked RP1 and have heard mixed things about The Post.). We are back in familiar territory with Disclosure Day. One would say too familiar as it looked like a secret sequel to the underappreciated classic that is Close Encounters of the Third Kind (I already said that, but I don’t care). But all of that is to say, this is Spielberg going absolutely crazy mode behind the camera with Janusz Kaminski eager to match him. He is directing the crap out of this film.
Watching this camera move from the opening scene (which is freaking wild and unexpected), it had an energy you don’t quite get. Many directors try to emulate this feeling, while few match it. It’s crazy at Spielberg’s age he is able to show that he still has it. There are other crazy elements of blocking and camera movement that leaves me in awe. And the guy knows how to direct an action scene. There are plenty of them to go around and will put you on the edge of your seat. John Williams also does some really lovely stuff in the score department. Just sweeping orchestral stuff you don’t hear anymore and possibly his best score in years.
I think the acting across the board is real good. Wyatt Russell (Jackson) is funny and Eve Hewson (Jane Blakenship) does some good things, Colman Domingo (Hugo Wakefield) and Colin Firth (Noah Scanlan) get equally good moments to shine. Josh O’Connor (Daniel Kellner) is a fine protagonist. I didn’t expect anything less. But really Emily Blunt (Margaret Fairchild) does some of her best work ever. Multiple scenes we watch her get to a place that I don’t think I’ve ever gotten to see her get to emotionally. She’s incredible.
Before sitting with it, I had problems with the film because it was not the film I wanted or expected it to be. It was not a reckoning. I wanted the characters to deal with the new questions posed and how they would react to it instead of what we got. That’s a different film in its own right and maybe someone could make it. I wanted it to get more existential and that’s not the purpose of the film. I realize that now. However, now the bulk of my problems lie within both my emotional response to the film and David Koepp’s script. I didn’t respond as emotionally strong as I hoped I would and I think I would’ve if I understood what was intended going in.
But on the other hand, Koepp’s script can pretty rough at times. Overwritten is a criticism I’ve heard and that is definitely true here. That first third has some ROUGH exposition dumps that reminded me that less is more when it comes to dialogue. I was pretty close to cringing when characters just word vomited exchanges of exposition. And then the rest of the film, it’s fine because I was pretty wrapped up in what I was watching and then at a climactic moment, there’s a character that just doesn’t stop talking. LET THE IMAGES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, OH MY WORD! It detracted from the moment for me.
However, this is a film that I really hope you all see in theaters. I think it’s pretty neat that we have something like this right now rather than something we look fondly back on. The time is now. Go see the new Spielberg!