Disclosure Day (2026)
Director Steven Spielberg's latest picture, Disclosure Day, is somewhat of a reworking of his classic 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. So, is Disclosure Day as good as Close Encounters? Of course not. It is, however, an entertaining science fiction film, and it's interesting to see how a master filmmaker approaches similar material nearly five decades later.
Cybersecurity specialist Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor) and Kansas City TV meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) come together to expose a government cover-up involving extraterrestrials. Kellner steals an alien device, plus hours and hours of files of human and extraterrestrial interaction—including the infamous Roswell event. Meanwhile, Fairchild gains the ability to read peoples thoughts after a seemingly random occurrence with a cardinal that flies into her kitchen through an open window. Yes, you read that right, but the movie does eventually explain the communication with animals. Anyway, to stop the truth about extraterrestrial visits to Earth from leaking to the public is the Wardex corporation and its CEO, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth).
Disclosure Day is a little too talky, it drags in spots, the finale doesn't deliver the punch that it should, and it's a screwy plot, but David Koepp's script is intelligent and layers the pieces on little by little. Spielberg still shows that he's a master of executing action scenes, like when our heroes are in a car that is being dragged by a train.
You can't
deny that Disclosure Day and Close Encounters are thematically
very similar, but the older and wiser Spielberg has the fate of humanity on his
mind in this latest film—there is a subplot going on in the background about
possible nuclear war with North Korea. Can the human race find common ground
with its enemies, as well as open its mind to the unknown?
