Steven Spielberg has made alien movies before. He’s the king of Hollywood blockbusters, especially when it concerns the extraterrestrial. Disclosure Day isn’t exactly the movie you’d expect from him. But that’s exactly what makes it work.
This isn’t an invasion film, and it isn’t really a thriller about running from the truth either, despite a plot that technically involves both of those things. What Disclosure Day is actually interested in is something harder to market and far more interesting: what happens to people, spiritually and morally, when the existence of life beyond Earth stops being a question and becomes reality.
The film’s most thought-provoking subplot belongs to Jane, played by Eve Hewson. She plays a former nun who spends much of the runtime debating internally whether the truth should come out at all. Her fear isn’t just that people will panic over tiny green aliens. It’s that confirmation of life on other worlds will shatter the foundation of religious belief that anchors the sense of morality, community, and empathy for billions of people. It’s a genuinely difficult question, and while the character ultimately finds her answer, the film deliberately stays away from whether it’s the right choice or not.
Emily Blunt is the film’s driving force, and she should have plenty of eyes on her come award season. As Margaret, the meteorologist whose strange on-air experience kicks off the plot, she carries the emotional weight of the film almost single-handedly, and she’s good enough that any rough edges in the script barely register while she’s on screen. The supporting cast holds up its end too. Josh O’Connor is solid as the cybersecurity expert turned whistleblower, Colin Firth is excellent as the film’s central obstacle, a man who isn’t quite a villain but who stands directly in the way of the truth coming out, and Colman Domingo brings the gravity he always brings, here playing the architect of the disclosure effort itself, working to get Margaret and Daniel to the same place at the same time.
This is Spielberg working in the genre he basically built, and it shows. The action sequences are well-paced and confidently staged, John Williams’ score does what John Williams’ scores do, albeit in a more restrained way than Star Wars or Jurassic Park, and there’s an earnestness to the whole film that comes across almost countercultural after a decade of irony-soaked blockbusters. Audiences seem ready for that shift. Whether Disclosure Day connects with mainstream moviegoers the way it likely will with critics is a separate question, but there’s a current of hope running through this film that seems intentional and welcome.
It’s not a flawless film. The script often tries to juggle more than it can comfortably hold, the abrupt ending will leave audiences divided, and the CGI animals seen throughout feel a bit too uncanny valley for a film trying to ground itself in reality. But the combination of the cast, the score, the action, and the film’s genuine interest in empathy as a guiding force helps it to rise above those rough patches.
The world Disclosure Day builds around its central plot is bleak in ways that feel uncomfortably real. Mounting tensions with North Korea and Russia, a society decaying in open view, and people fighting over dwindling gas and groceries. Against that backdrop, the film’s heroes are defined by their empathy, and the movie seems to argue that empathy, not technology or government transparency, is what gets humanity through whatever happens next.
This is a film that rewards patience and asks you to sit with its questions rather than racing toward answers. If you’re looking for a straightforward alien movie, you might walk away wanting more. If you let it work on its own terms, Disclosure Day has more on its mind than most blockbusters bother to attempt, and mostly earns it.
Featured: Colman Domingo, Tommy Martinez, Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor in ‘Disclosure Day’ | Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise | Universal Pictures and Amblin
Nathan Smith is a Providence-based music photographer and journalist focusing on capturing the special moments and unfiltered magic of live performances. Whether he’s shooting established artists at sold-out TD Garden shows or documenting the rise of emerging local bands, his goal is the same: to pull viewers directly into the heart of the moment.
His writing spotlights rising artists and local scenes, with a focus on telling the stories that often get overlooked. A lifelong music fan and musician himself, Nathan approaches interviews and portraits as conversations rather than transactions, building trust with artists so their genuine personalities can shine through. Whether he’s backstage, in the photo pit, or at home in front of the keyboard, he brings the same curiosity and care to every assignment.
Outside of his press work with Juice Box Press, Nathan works regularly as a photographer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous bands in the Boston and Providence area. Nathan also plays violin with a local orchestra, follows Celtics basketball almost religiously, and is an avid fantasy reader.