July 1, 2026
Thoughts about Spielberg & Disclosure Day
By now, if you are interested in seeing Steven Spielberg’s latest sci fi mystery Disclosure Day, you’ve probably already done so and maybe have even read some reviews about the film. Because I’m coming at it a few weeks after the release, I decided to go a different route and talk a bit generally about Spielberg before saying a few words about this one.
I’m old enough to have been around when his first big hit, Jaws, was released in 1975 and yes, I saw it in a theater. It was pretty remarkable. There is no question to that. However, I was a couple years older when I was truly blown away by his next film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I was already fascinated by the idea of life on other planets. Watching Spielberg roll out his story of aliens actually coming to earth was thrilling from start to finish. I bought the vinyl of John Williams’ score for the film. I had the Close Encounters black t-shirt with the tag line: “We Are Not Alone.” As a result, I became even more fascinated by science fiction stories and, for a brief moment, thought it could be an interesting career direction. I even became a member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific which would send out a quarterly magazine with terms and ideas that were much too over my head. The photos were cool though! (I eventually let go of the idea of space as a career after dropping out of an astronomy course senior year in high school.)
I continued following Spielberg’s films for a good long while. I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark at the time and of course, E.T.-the Extraterrestrial. For some reason the latter didn’t have the same impact on me as Close Encounters though. Perhaps it was too focused on the kids in the story as I was almost 20 when it was released. Still, I marveled at what Spielberg created and embraced his continued fascination with life out in the universe.
As the years went on and I became a “serious” film goer, my favorites from Spielberg were the ones that got greater critical acclaim: The Color Purple, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, and Munich. Minority Report and A.I. Artificial Intelligence were fine but I never returned to those films after my initial viewings. When he returned to “space” with his remake of War of the Worlds, I didn’t even bother to see it. It seemed like a step backward for him to be directing a film that had already been made. Plus, it had Tom Cruise who was already becoming decisive for most of us. I still haven’t seen it.
With Disclosure Day, Spielberg has returned to the universe of Close Encounters and E.T. The films feel like they are part of a trilogy. This time the story begins in media res as Josh O’Connor’s character is already holding something secret that people are after. The story took a little time to coalesce into something which would hold my interest. I even found myself dozing a few times. However, as the pieces started coming together I became pretty taken with the narrative’s arc. Of course, I still had questions: What happened to O’Connor when he was younger? Why is the meteorologist, played by Emily Blunt, speaking in a strange tongue and then Russian? It’s all part of the intriguing set up by screenwriter David Koepp, based on a Spielberg story.
It’s not to say that everything works either. There are details left out of the story, including what Blunt’s life has been like in the past 30 years and why this is happening NOW. Spielberg includes a character played by Eve Hewson who spent some time as a nun. This storyline seems to be included to satisfy those who want to know how religion and spirituality fit into the idea of life on other planets. The explanation given is passable but I think he could have gone a bit further with the philosophical debate.
There are also some Spielberg chases which definitely will ring familiar to anyone who has seen, especially, the other two films in this trilogy. He did go a bit too far with an exciting but implausible scene in which O’Connor and Blunt are stuck behind a railroad crossing (a reference to the Richard Dreyfuss scene in Close Encounters) and are getting pushed into a train’s path by one of the dudes who doesn’t want the secrets revealed about our actual encounters with aliens beginning back in 1947 Roswell, New Mexico. It’s high action but belongs in a lesser director’s attempt at creating a Hollywood blockbuster rather than one that is pondering other life in the universe.
Whether we can even call this a blockbuster is whole other matter. It definitely moves pretty quickly for its almost two and a half hour running time but it is a Spielberg sci fi story for adults, rather than kids. I think the previous films had more appeal to younger generations and families, in part because of the heavy use of children in both. This one may be too complex and verbal even with some of its chase scenes. That doesn’t make it bad but perhaps more limiting for a summer blockbuster.
There is a lot to enjoy though. The performances by the four leads are all stellar. O’Connor is the everyman caught up in this web and plays it in a very relatable, wide-eyed manner. Blunt has some big scenes to “act” and even when she is talking in unknown languages she comes across as very believable. Her emotional scenes are also well calibrated and deeply affecting. Colman Domingo is also great as the leader of an organization that seems to be in the know about what exactly is happening. This could have been a one-note role but he’s got some strong scenes which he expresses with expert skill and makes the character something deeper. Colin Firth is also present as Noah Scanlon, a leader on the other side who doesn’t want the information O’Connor and the others have gathered to get leaked. It’s another potential one-note character that actually has a solid arc.
Overall, I came away quite liking Disclosure Day. There are so many references to the other Spielberg films, including the physical look of the aliens, John Williams’ score, shots of people being mesmerized by what is happening in front of them, and, of course, characters on the run with true commitment and acceptance of the momentous situation they find themselves in. More than anything, the film is like taking a nostalgic trip back to early Spielberg and his “space” stories which he knows how to expertly direct and produce for endless entertainment. He also, like Yorgos Lanthimos did with Bugonia last year, asks us to consider those who believe in things that are out of the ordinary and to try listening to what they might be saying.
3 ½ out of 4 stars
Thoughts about Spielberg & Disclosure Day
By now, if you are interested in seeing Steven Spielberg’s latest sci fi mystery Disclosure Day, you’ve probably already done so and maybe have even read some reviews about the film. Because I’m coming at it a few weeks after the release, I decided to go a different route and talk a bit generally about Spielberg before saying a few words about this one.
I’m old enough to have been around when his first big hit, Jaws, was released in 1975 and yes, I saw it in a theater. It was pretty remarkable. There is no question to that. However, I was a couple years older when I was truly blown away by his next film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I was already fascinated by the idea of life on other planets. Watching Spielberg roll out his story of aliens actually coming to earth was thrilling from start to finish. I bought the vinyl of John Williams’ score for the film. I had the Close Encounters black t-shirt with the tag line: “We Are Not Alone.” As a result, I became even more fascinated by science fiction stories and, for a brief moment, thought it could be an interesting career direction. I even became a member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific which would send out a quarterly magazine with terms and ideas that were much too over my head. The photos were cool though! (I eventually let go of the idea of space as a career after dropping out of an astronomy course senior year in high school.)
I continued following Spielberg’s films for a good long while. I loved Raiders of the Lost Ark at the time and of course, E.T.-the Extraterrestrial. For some reason the latter didn’t have the same impact on me as Close Encounters though. Perhaps it was too focused on the kids in the story as I was almost 20 when it was released. Still, I marveled at what Spielberg created and embraced his continued fascination with life out in the universe.
As the years went on and I became a “serious” film goer, my favorites from Spielberg were the ones that got greater critical acclaim: The Color Purple, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, and Munich. Minority Report and A.I. Artificial Intelligence were fine but I never returned to those films after my initial viewings. When he returned to “space” with his remake of War of the Worlds, I didn’t even bother to see it. It seemed like a step backward for him to be directing a film that had already been made. Plus, it had Tom Cruise who was already becoming decisive for most of us. I still haven’t seen it.
With Disclosure Day, Spielberg has returned to the universe of Close Encounters and E.T. The films feel like they are part of a trilogy. This time the story begins in media res as Josh O’Connor’s character is already holding something secret that people are after. The story took a little time to coalesce into something which would hold my interest. I even found myself dozing a few times. However, as the pieces started coming together I became pretty taken with the narrative’s arc. Of course, I still had questions: What happened to O’Connor when he was younger? Why is the meteorologist, played by Emily Blunt, speaking in a strange tongue and then Russian? It’s all part of the intriguing set up by screenwriter David Koepp, based on a Spielberg story.
It’s not to say that everything works either. There are details left out of the story, including what Blunt’s life has been like in the past 30 years and why this is happening NOW. Spielberg includes a character played by Eve Hewson who spent some time as a nun. This storyline seems to be included to satisfy those who want to know how religion and spirituality fit into the idea of life on other planets. The explanation given is passable but I think he could have gone a bit further with the philosophical debate.
There are also some Spielberg chases which definitely will ring familiar to anyone who has seen, especially, the other two films in this trilogy. He did go a bit too far with an exciting but implausible scene in which O’Connor and Blunt are stuck behind a railroad crossing (a reference to the Richard Dreyfuss scene in Close Encounters) and are getting pushed into a train’s path by one of the dudes who doesn’t want the secrets revealed about our actual encounters with aliens beginning back in 1947 Roswell, New Mexico. It’s high action but belongs in a lesser director’s attempt at creating a Hollywood blockbuster rather than one that is pondering other life in the universe.
Whether we can even call this a blockbuster is whole other matter. It definitely moves pretty quickly for its almost two and a half hour running time but it is a Spielberg sci fi story for adults, rather than kids. I think the previous films had more appeal to younger generations and families, in part because of the heavy use of children in both. This one may be too complex and verbal even with some of its chase scenes. That doesn’t make it bad but perhaps more limiting for a summer blockbuster.
There is a lot to enjoy though. The performances by the four leads are all stellar. O’Connor is the everyman caught up in this web and plays it in a very relatable, wide-eyed manner. Blunt has some big scenes to “act” and even when she is talking in unknown languages she comes across as very believable. Her emotional scenes are also well calibrated and deeply affecting. Colman Domingo is also great as the leader of an organization that seems to be in the know about what exactly is happening. This could have been a one-note role but he’s got some strong scenes which he expresses with expert skill and makes the character something deeper. Colin Firth is also present as Noah Scanlon, a leader on the other side who doesn’t want the information O’Connor and the others have gathered to get leaked. It’s another potential one-note character that actually has a solid arc.
Overall, I came away quite liking Disclosure Day. There are so many references to the other Spielberg films, including the physical look of the aliens, John Williams’ score, shots of people being mesmerized by what is happening in front of them, and, of course, characters on the run with true commitment and acceptance of the momentous situation they find themselves in. More than anything, the film is like taking a nostalgic trip back to early Spielberg and his “space” stories which he knows how to expertly direct and produce for endless entertainment. He also, like Yorgos Lanthimos did with Bugonia last year, asks us to consider those who believe in things that are out of the ordinary and to try listening to what they might be saying.
3 ½ out of 4 stars