9/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars

The one and only Steven Spielberg has reached the “what did it all mean?” phase of his career. He’s earmarked various eras with stories of aliens revealing themselves to the populous by force with both friendly and hostile intentions. Disclosure Day presents a different path. One where humans have intentionally stifled the flow of information and progress through a web that only other people can untangle. This bravery is not entirely out of altruism. There are elements of destiny at play that scurry to converge upon a revelatory moment. The ensuing spectacle is an equally paranoid and optimistic ride that is both fueled and hindered by Spielberg’s aging sensibility.

We meet tech bandit Daniel (Josh O’Connor) with the government hot on his trail. He’s stolen transcendent footage of extraterrestrial life that will shift the balance of a world on the brink of war. He and his handler Hugo (Colman Domingo) are looking for the perfect moment and venue to reveal it all. Enter news anchor Margaret (Emily Blunt) who becomes more vessel than human after a morning encounter with a watchful cardinal. Margaret has suddenly tapped into a higher consciousness. She’s suddenly shifting perspectives and even languages involuntarily, recalling the personal lives of people she’s never met and an oppressive flow of fear and purpose pointing towards Daniel’s quest. The two eventually find each other with the shady Wardex CEO Noah (Colin Firth) in hot pursuit with a few psychic weapons of his own.

Disclosure Day is most exciting during the Bourne coded opening act. We watch cold government machinations clash with one unassuming but competent man determined to expose them. Josh O’Connor has been developing a gentle but convicted screen presence that is a natural fit for a Spielberg protagonist. His quest is not driven by ego. He doesn’t care about being the face behind the disclosure as long as it happens. Meanwhile, Colin Firth sneers and cheats throughout his pursuit. An unexpected but welcome choice for a villain, Firth subtly brings to life a man who is desperate to harness inhuman power in a pathetic pursuit of control.

Emily Blunt has the toughest role. She remains entirely conscious as her brain shrivels into the ether. At times, her loss of bodily control brings to mind her father’s Parkinson’s Disease, only enhancing her sense of despair. Blunt elastically shifts personas in every scene without it feeling corny. This could’ve easily felt like a hokey vehicle for overacting in the vein of Jesse Buckley channeling the spirit of Mary Shelly throughout The Bride! Instead, we remain entirely tethered to Margaret as if we are watching a friend face down a horrific condition, a feeling only bolstered by sneak standout Wyatt Russell’s frantic and hilarious turn as her baffled husband.

Nearly every scene in Disclosure Day is unloading some kind of exposition and eventually David Koepp’s wordy script slows Spielberg’s urgent pace. It starts to freeze so that characters can unload monologues about the film’s evocative but obvious themes. Colman Domingo is a particular victim of this and he never quite breaks through the words to find the person underneath. Thrilling chase sequences begin to segue into some cheesy scenarios where Blunt starts to use some powers she picks up. Even with that context, our shadow agents start to look a little dumb as they’re easily tricked time after time. It eventually has to operate on easy mode in order to usher our characters to the payoff.

But what a payoff it is.

The final thirty minutes of Disclosure Day unfold via an unforgettable sequence that was clearly the most exciting aspect of this story for Spielberg. It’s not unexpected per se, just very elegant and atmospheric in execution. Spielberg rightfully asserts that most of the drama upon disclosure in 2026 would simply involve people being glued to their screens, brains slowly but not truly accepting that the world’s entire paradigm has shifted. The film poses questions about what this revelation means for those who believe in a higher power ideated by man but knows all too well that those reactions and justifications are yet to come. It does not assert what a Disclosure Day would bring to the human race, it simply insists that it happen soon.

Those expecting a blockbuster thrill ride might bounce off of Disclosure Day. This is mostly suspenseful in mood with only a couple of moderately flashy action setpieces (much enhanced by John Williams’ score) entering the fray. Spielberg’s sense of play here comes from watching the existential panic take hold across his cast. It’s a film that deals in inevitability and requires a certain belief in that to fully buy in. This ethos keeps the film afloat even when it starts to feel a bit overwritten. It feels meant to be. A fitting coda for the lifelong curiosity of one of our most prolific and influential filmmakers.

Movie Review: Steven Spielberg Leaves The Prospect of "Disclosure Day" In Our Hands