Star-packed with Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Colman Domingo, and Wyatt Russell, and directed by Steven Spielberg, I walked into Disclosure Day with very high expectations.
I don’t know why, but after watching the teaser months ago, I somehow convinced myself this was going to be a horror movie.
While it was horrific in some ways, it definitely wasn’t paranormal. Disclosure Day is about as sci-fi as a movie can get.
In short, the movie is about proving the existence of aliens and how the US government has not only known about them for decades and hidden the truth from the public, but has also been experimenting on these extraterrestrials and using their technology for its own purposes.
We meet Daniel (Josh) and Margaret (Emily), who, as children, were visited by animals. That’s supposedly how the aliens presented themselves to kids so they wouldn’t be scared.
This encounter gave them the ability to speak not only the alien language but also the universal language of mathematical equations, as well as the power to understand all human languages. That whole sequence from their younger selves interacting with the animals to the eventual reveal of the aliens was quite fantastical.
While Daniel discovered his abilities at a young age, ended up in jail, and later began helping with the secret project alongside Hugo (Colman), Margaret only realised her dormant abilities one random day while delivering a weather report at work.
Most of the movie is basically Daniel and Margaret trying to find each other because of the connection that has suddenly reignited between them.
The rest of the film revolves around them fighting the bad guys, Colin Firth and his gang, and attempting to expose these secrets to the world, which they obviously manage to do by the end.
Two of my favourite scenes were the chase sequence leading to the rail crossing and the entire action piece that followed. It genuinely had me on the edge of my seat.
Once they were on the train, Margaret’s panic attack was handled really well. I thought that whole section was one of the movie’s strongest parts.
Another standout scene was when Colin Firth’s character arrived at the off-grid farmhouse and essentially began mind-controlling Jane, Daniel’s girlfriend, forcing her to carry out certain actions and reveal their whereabouts.
It was a tense moment in the film, and Eve Hewson did really well in that scene, especially in portraying Jane’s internal struggle as she fought against the influence taking over her mind.
Jane’s revelation that she was originally supposed to become a nun was a funny scene. At the same time, watching her try to reconcile her faith in God as the supreme being with the existence of aliens was actually quite interesting.
Similarly, the scene where one of Hugo’s team members kneels before Margaret and she immediately says she cannot become someone’s religion, just because she’s all-knowing and never asked for that kind of worship, was great.
One shocking scene that I wasn’t expecting at all was when they revealed an actual alien in the newsroom at the end of the movie. Once the secrets are exposed, they broadcast the alien across America for everyone to see. That was a real “whoa” moment.
However, I have to say that using such a basic, stereotypical alien we’ve all seen in media, drawings, and pop culture was a bit disappointing. I would’ve loved to see a more unique, or rather a Spielberg take on what an alien could look like.
Overall, Disclosure Day was a pretty decent movie. With such a heavy title, I wish it had leaned more into the alien and government secrets and delivered more shock value. I’m sure that if you’re into aliens and conspiracies, you’ll probably enjoy it more than I did.
