Spielberg's Alien Thriller 'Disclosure Day' Takes a Cerebral Approach
Following a four-year absence from cinemas, legendary director Steven Spielberg returns to the world of aliens with 'Disclosure Day'. The film focuses on a cast of characters including Emily Blunt’s Margaret, Josh O’Connor’s Daniel and Eve Hewson’s Jane as secrets and strange behaviour threaten to spill out into the world and change our very existence.
If you’re a fan of bombastic sci-fi like Independence Day, or even Spielberg’s own War of the Worlds remake, then this more cerebral, dialogue-driven approach might not blow you away. Spielberg and regular collaborative scribe David Koepp’s script dives straight into the plot without warning during a hand-off at a wrestling show and slowly drip-feeds answers to many enticing questions.
Masterful Set-Pieces Amidst Smaller-Scale Storytelling
Despite the smaller-scale storytelling, Spielberg still shows he’s a master of thrilling set-pieces with a house laid to waste, freight train carnage and people being taken out by invisible forces. However, nothing gets the pulses flowing like nerve-shredding, intense interrogations led by an unusually intimidating Colin Firth (Noah).
Blunt, an always very reliable presence, is wonderful as the erratic, hyper weather girl who turns into an integral part of the puzzle, combining humour and heart. O’Connor grounds his every scene with curiosity and a desperate search for answers, Hewson’s Jane’s religious past leads to her asking important questions and facing inner turmoil, Colman Domingo (Hugo) is a soft-spoken gatekeeper of the truth and Wyatt Russell (Jackson), who I didn’t even know was in the film, reacts to everything going on around him in a manner most of us would match.
Divisive Final Scene and Overall Verdict
Not every mystery gets a clear answer and the final scene is sure to be divisive; I thought it was a fitting way to close things out but would understand others feeling shortchanged. It’s hard for any filmmakers’ latest work to match Spielberg’s best and Disclosure Day doesn’t rate among the icon’s finest, but this is a thinking person’s blockbuster full of ace acting, big questions and the power of collective will.
Disclosure Day is showing in cinemas now.
