Disclosure Day seems positioned to ask, “What if we aren’t alone?” But in watching the movie, you realize that isn’t the real question. Instead, it’s a foregone conclusion established early on that we are not alone. What, then, do we do with that information? What does it mean for humanity, and how does it impact those with faith?

Is it our responsibility to share the truth no matter the consequences? Who decides that? Steven Spielberg’s latest offering is grappling with that and more. Not all of it lands, but the final result is a product worth your time and attention, even if it takes a while to earn it.

Disclosure Day Review

Disclosure Day is written for the screen by David Koepp, who has written Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, Panic Room, Mission: Impossible, Black Bag, Carlito’s Way, and Spider-Man. However, his recent credits tell a different story, one much more applicable to his latest outing. These include The Mummy (2017), Jurassic World: Rebirth, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

The script is really messy. Everything is simultaneously overwrought and underdeveloped. There is a maguffin-esque device that just serves as a script catch-all. Need to inhabit someone else’s mind? How about powering up a news station? What about creating a cloak of invisibility? This alien device, which comes from unexplained origins, can do it all and more.

The revelation of where these devices came from is supposed to be some big third-act reveal that explains everything. Colman Domingo’s Hugo Wakefield even says that the characters, who routinely profess what we as an audience are thinking with shouts of “I don’t know what’s going on,” will finally know everything. Maybe they do after this big reveal, but we don’t.

The script is definitely lacking, but Steven Spielberg’s capable eye at least does something to overcome that. His camerawork is phenomenal. The framing in several scenes is immaculate, and his use of reflections throughout makes for some really great shots. A lesser filmmaker would’ve crumbled under the weight of lifting a subpar script to the heights that Disclosure Day reaches.

On the acting side, they are also a little hamstrung by the script. Domingo is quite solid, but he’s reduced to almost explicit exposition. There’s a brief scene where some of the themes of Disclosure Day come to a head between him and Colin Firth’s Noah Scanlon, the villain. That scene is far too short, but it’s one of the best in the movie thanks to two pretty good performances.

Emily Blunt is good as well. She has a few standout scenes that really help elevate this and provide some emotional depth. Her character feels the deepest, richest, and most complex, and it’s probably not because of the script. Josh O’Connor is fine, but this is not his best work. He seems to be doing the best he can, but it falls flat a few times. The same is true for Eve Hewson.

There are a ton of big thematic ideas going on here. Spielberg and Koepp are toying with so many things that don’t all land. I found Disclosure Day the most interesting when it focused on individual elements. When it’s a spy thriller about who has the right to decide if the truth can be given to humanity, it’s great. When it’s a drama about the conflict between faith and the quest for truth, it’s excellent. Those two things just clash too often.

There’s also a conversation about whether or not humanity can withstand such a truth. The news of alien life would certainly upend society, and with society already in upheaval, are we doing more damage than good? The ultimate thesis determined by the movie is that it doesn’t matter because we have a right to know, good or bad.

I wish the conversation around that aspect were a little more nuanced and explored more deeply. There are moments of genuine conversation around a difficult topic, but they’re few and far between and pretty brief. I ultimately do agree with the film’s answer to the question, but it deserved a much deeper dive.

Those shifts throughout can be a little jarring. The beginning of the movie is good, and the end is quite good. But they’re so tonally different that it’s hard to feel like they’re the same movie. There are elements of Spielberg’s previous work infused into this, but it doesn’t always mesh. It is commendable to try to touch on all these things, but it doesn’t quite work. However, with all that said…

Sometimes, a movie isn’t about all the technical aspects, though those do help. It is not always about a crisp, tight script or layered, human performances. Those help, too, and in the performance department, Disclosure Day isn’t necessarily lacking. Sometimes, it’s just about how a movie can make you feel.

And when the final scene is playing out after two hours of messy, ridiculous, convoluted build-up, nothing else matters. What matters is that moment, with John Williams’ excellent score playing behind a truly earnest, human scene. Everything comes together so well in that moment that you can almost forget all the disarray of the rest of the movie.

Conclusion

Disclosure Day is messy, bogged down by a script that’s pretty convoluted and underbaked. But under Steven Spielberg’s watchful eye, it is able to elevate beyond that, and there is a genuine, palpable earnestness and humanity on display that bleeds through the majority of the movie, and that’s more than enough to make it worth your while to go see a legendary filmmaker do it one more time.

Score: 3.5/5