Review: Disclosure Day

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Official Synopsis: If you found out we weren't alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you?

I have to say, even after my lukewarm response to The Fabelmans, I was pretty excited for the new Spielberg joint. But I did spiral a bit afterwards.

Is Steven Spielberg a dated filmmaker? There were so many moments during Disclosure Day where I thought to myself "Oh, that reminds me of films in the 80's/90's" or "That shot reminds me of things I watched as a kid" at what point are you intentionally nostalgic, or just using dated cuts and edits? It might be a silly question but that's the biggest question I've been asking myself since watching it. 

For what it's worth, I did really enjoy Disclosure Day, even if I'm leaning towards "dated." The central mystery was good. Josh O'Connor and Emily Blunt are both excellent actors and it makes their characters easy to follow. Especially Blunt's, as she gets to showcase the most range here. I can understand the complaints of the "macguffin" being too convenient to the plot, but sometimes it's nice to have easy. After Backrooms explained jack shit to me, I'm okay with this just telling it to me like I'm 5. 

On a technical level, I really enjoyed John Williams' beautiful score. He just never misses. The special effects when it comes to the aliens is really good, but the animals were a bit too uncanny valley for me. There is an air of whimsy to them which doesn't completely pull you out of the film, thankfully. 

The script definitely has some issues, but they're far outweighed by the positives. It's definitely not knocking Project Hail Mary off the top of the 2026 Sci-Fi pedestal this year, but it gave a valiant effort. 

Grade: B-

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