Steven Spielberg’s fascination with all things extraterrestrial continues to shine in his latest sci-fi drama-mystery, “Disclosure Day.” Our JP gives his take on the director’s new film.
Disclosure Day
Universal Pictures
- Directed by Steven Spielberg
- Screenplay by David Koepp
- Story by Steven Spielberg
- Produced by Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg
- Starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo
Studio Synopsis:
If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to Disclosure Day, following a meteorologist and a cybersecurity expert who find themselves at the center of a movement to expose the government’s cover-up of extraterrestrial secrets.
J.P.’s Take:
“Disclosure Day” is a bookend of sorts to his previous films that involved the search for life outside our world, most famously “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T.,” “War of the Worlds,” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Yet Spielberg and writer David Koepp have given this account a more humanistic quality, allowing the mystery to flow more naturally.
This is a sci-fi drama that connects on a somewhat realistic level, offering a hopeful, optimistic scenario rather than a grim one. Is it a conspiracy, or is it divine intervention? Those are the questions you’ll be asking as you immerse yourself in this wildly adventurous goose chase.
We’re led down the rabbit hole as we tag along with our protagonist, Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), a cybersecurity expert and former agent working at a secret branch of the government called Wardex. His mission is to safeguard evidence of alien life and technology collected in the crash of a spacecraft in Roswell, New Mexico, some 79 years ago. Now he’s flipped the script and is on the run, realizing that his mission has taken a drastic turn. He believes it’s crucial for the public to uncover the truth, so he’s determined to reveal that evidence to the world. However, harboring such secrets will also make him a martyr.
It’s a scenario that resembles many accounts from the past and present where it’s still commonplace for people to exclaim they’ve seen, heard, or simply experienced some kind of otherworld phenomenon. And to this day, our government has sifted through a multitude of recent video footage of encounters of the third kind by the military. The story then shifts to Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), a former journalist who now works as a meteorologist but dreams of reclaiming her spot as a news anchor. However, her routine takes an unexpected turn as she sets out for work. Let’s just say she’s had an epiphany, and now she sees the world for what it really is.
Daniel’s girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), who was there from the start of the film, is a former nun who has lost her faith in the human race. Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo) and his team of Wardex defectors play a crucial role in uniting the two sides. Their fate and that of the world rest on their shoulders. Spielberg and Koepp do this outing plenty of justice, posing questions about how faith and the belief in science are intertwined. Amidst the unfolding truth, conversations about empathy emerge and highlight its potential to bring together a fractured world. Spielberg doesn’t skimp on the action either; there is a good deal of cat-and-mouse moments, chase scenes, and point-counterpoint measures taken by both the baddies and heroes to outsmart one another.
Joining the cast are a strong lineup of talent who drive the film’s corporate conspiracy and spiritual stakes. Colin Firth plays Noah Scanlon, the ruthless head of the Wardex corporation who is desperate to keep the ultimate secret buried. Henry Lloyd-Hughes portrays Casper Boyd, Scanlon’s slick and relentless head of security tasked with tracking down the whistleblowers. On the spiritual side, Elizabeth Marvel acts as Sister Maura, the Abbess of the Monastery of St. Clare of the Dawn, who provides a crucial sanctuary and moral guidance. Finally, Wyatt Russell steps in as Jackson, Margaret’s protective boyfriend, who represents the everyday ordinary citizen caught in the middle of a global crisis.
With “Disclosure Day,” Spielberg and Koepp deliver a satisfying, mostly engaging exploration of the human experience, especially during times when we feel most exposed and uncertain about the meaning of life as a whole. And quirkily enough, even about our origins.
Official Site: Disclosure Day
