When it’s Steven Spielberg, he can sell us anything. A killer shark in Jaws. Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. And, of course, aliens! From ET to Disclosure Day, the man can make us believe in almost anything. Which is why, even as an ardent admirer of the filmmaker, I came away slightly underwhelmed by his latest directorial.
For reasons she cannot explain, meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) begins experiencing strange abilities after a cardinal visits her home. She can suddenly read people’s minds and even alter what they see when they look into her eyes. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) is on the run after stealing a series of tapes containing evidence of what really happened to the extraterrestrial beings who landed on Earth. Pursuing them both is Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), the powerful head of Wardex. Why these two seemingly unrelated individuals are inexorably drawn towards each other forms the crux of the film.
The film begins at a brisk pace and immediately pulls the audience in. The world appears to be hurtling towards yet another war, the stakes are alarmingly high, and with aliens thrown into the mix, viewers are firmly in Spielberg’s grasp. The first half remains engrossing as we gradually uncover the mysterious transformations taking place within Margaret and Daniel. However, once the narrative shifts into chase mode, the film begins to lose momentum. The pursuit stretches on for far too long, repeating itself until what was initially exciting starts to feel increasingly exhausting.
After the midpoint, Disclosure Day finally comes alive, and the climax stuns you with how imaginative it is, visually. The revelations land. The catch is that it takes such a long route to get there that by the time the pieces start fitting together, the audience has spent energy simply keeping up. The payoff works, but it arrives after a detour long enough to make parts of the opening act feel like they belonged to a different film. The antagonist’s motives never establish themselves fully, too.
Overall, Disclosure Day is never less than intriguing, and even when frustrating, it bears the stamp of a director operating on a scale few can match. Spielberg packs the film with big ideas about humanity and our place in the universe, but the storytelling occasionally gets lost in it’s own ambition. Yet, when the pieces finally fall into place, the film delivers enough spectacle to remind us why he remains one of cinema’s greatest showmen.
