Film Review – Disclosure Day

June 11th, 2026 | POSTED BY Allen Almachar

Steven Spielberg’s life-long fascination with extraterrestrial life, intergalactic confrontations, and humanity’s place amongst the stars continues with Disclosure Day (2026). While the most financially successful filmmaker in the history of cinema has returned to this arena multiple times – whether it be E.T. (1982), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and War of the Worlds (2005) – he imbues each project with its own distinct personality. Spielberg has ventured these waters before, but he never repeats himself. I’m not sure if this latest release will reach the pantheon of classics on his resume, but it is still a thought-provoking and emotionally thrilling experience. Spielberg has not lost a step this far into his career. This is blockbuster filmmaking at the highest level.

Advertisements would have us believe the narrative involves aliens visiting Earth and the ramifications of that upon society. That is true, but it is only part of a larger picture. Some viewers may be caught off guard with how contemplative and methodical this is, even when it has big splashy action scenes. In spirit, this feels more along the lines of A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), in how ideas and themes are of equal importance compared to the visual fireworks. David Koepp’s screenplay contains the nuts and bolts of a 1970’s conspiracy thriller but told from a 21^st century perspective. Like all great sci-fi, Spielberg and Koepp have crafted something that looks and sounds fantastical, but under the surface is a reflection of today’s world.

We take off running. Spielberg/Koepp ignore the traditional storytelling technique of setting up characters and scenarios, instead choosing to start at what feels like the beginning of the second act. We meet our two central protagonists. Daniel (Josh O’Connor) is a former data security specialist for a shadowy organization. He has come upon information that reveals the government’s knowledge of aliens, aka “supreme beings,” and a long history of lies and cover up. Daniel strongly believes the world needs to know the truth of all this. He goes on the run with his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) from the organization, led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth). Our second lead character is Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), a meteorologist at a Kansas City news station. Margaret’s desire to move out of the city with her boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell) gets derailed when, seemingly out of the blue, she starts exhibiting strange behavior. She begins speaking other languages, can read people’s minds, and somehow learns a person’s entire past just by looking at them. Something within her compels her to journey toward an unknown destination, to the confusion and frustration of Jackson.

The bulk of the plot involves Daniel and Margaret circling one another, coming closer and closer for reasons unexplained until the very end. At the center is Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo) a former employee at the same organization Daniel worked at, who now acts as a resistance leader and guide for both Daniel and Margaret. The four major characters – Margaret, Daniel, Hugo, and Noah – represent a cavalcade of themes that run all throughout Disclosure Day. At its heart, the film touches upon truth, faith, and communication. Would the world be better knowing that aliens were real or would society collapse? If the existence of other supreme beings was proven, how would that affect our belief systems and the role of religion? In one scene, Margaret says of her new abilities “I don’t want to be someone’s God.” Would people benefit from having the truth withheld from them? How can we better understand ourselves if we spend so much of our time talking at each other instead of with each other? So much can be learned if we took a moment to actually listen.

Spielberg has always been an empathetic director. At worst, this trait can lead to films that are overly sentimental. At its best, it allows us to step into the shoes of strangers and see the world from their eyes. Disclosure Day fits more into the latter category. This is a very smart film, one that sees the cynicism and divisions of today and asks us to step outside of our personal bubbles. Daniel – and to a larger degree, Margaret – acts as a bridge between “us” and “them.” It’s not an accident that Margaret can understand other languages or that Josh can read and hear math equations as if someone were talking to him. The two represent those divisions melting away. The writing and direction highlight this as the narrative progresses, reaching a climax that turns away from literal cohesion and toward a more emotional, transcendent result. Not many filmmakers can feel the way that Spielberg does, and in the third act he shares that with us in a way that is dreamlike – almost surreal.

On a technical level, this is just as glossy and sleek as any other Spielberg outing. Janusz Kaminski’s cinematography and Sarah Broshar’s editing capture exquisite visuals and breathtaking set pieces. The camera is always moving, but not in a way that calls attention to itself. It glides in and out of rooms, quickly panning to details to help clue us in on what is happening. This doesn’t have as many action scenes as say, Jurassic Park (1993), but the sequences it does feature keep us on the edge of our seats. A car chase has Daniel and Jane attempting to evade Noah’s henchmen, with the camera zooming alongside as they crash through houses and weave through cornfields and around trees. The biggest scene is a train sequence where characters must make a daring jump before death snatches them up. The cutting between facial expressions, wide angle shots, and the train barreling towards them make for the most suspenseful moment of the film. 

But the technical achievements aren’t just in the action, but also with the interactions between the characters. One of the best scenes has Noah and Jane simply having a conversation. While I won’t get into the specifics of their talk, I will say that it involves Noah attempting to exert his influence upon Jane. The construction of the scene, with the camera cutting back and forth on Colin Firth and Eve Hewson’s faces, is a masterclass showing the changing power dynamics. The camera gradually moves into close up as the back and forth gets more intense, eventually landing directly on the actors’ eyes alone. The scene is wrought with tension that only escalates when we understand what has occurred and the danger it has caused.

The scene above exemplifies the great work from the cast all around. Everyone turns in strong performances. Josh O’Connor does not play Daniel like a traditional hero, but as someone who is in over their heads and is struggling to stay afloat. Colman Domingo brings a calming aura to Hugo Wakefield. He provides secrets in bits and pieces, enough to keep Daniel and Margaret hanging onto his every word but not enough to shock them out of their shoes. But the central highlight in terms of acting is with Emily Blunt. Not only is she tasked with the physical and verbal challenges of speaking multiple languages believably, but in creating sounds that are strange enough to convince us that they came from an off-world source. But beyond that, Blunt successfully draws us into the soulfulness of Margaret – in the way she looks at strangers as she learns everything about them, or the anxiety she feels in taking on a responsibility that might be too big for her to comprehend. In lesser hands, Margaret risked being a caricature of extreme thoughts and emotions, but Blunt anchors her with a controlled and precise performance.

Disclosure Day proves that Spielberg still has something interesting to say and does so with intelligence and grace. The film runs for a good two and a half hours, but Spielberg’s expert control of tone and pace makes it fly by. This is excellent filmmaking – one that doesn’t just lean on technical prowess but dares to ask tough questions that may or may not have a definitive answer. Above all else, it is a movie about understanding – about making connections to help overcome troubling times. Yes, this is a movie about aliens, but more importantly, it is a movie about us.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, David Koepp, Disclosure Day, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Emily Blunt, Eve Hewson, Featured, Janusz Kaminski, Josh O'Connor, Jurassic Park, Sarah Broshar, Steven Spielberg, War of the Worlds, Wyatt Russell