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-

Comments

  1. thevoid99June 15, 2026 at 1:39 PM

    I'm going to wait for it on streaming as Solomonster wasn't high on this film either as people said this is Spielberg's best film in more than 20 years which I think is just hype. I'm not going to knock him down although he's made a few shitty films.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 17, 2026 at 2:13 PM

      He's definitely been on a downward trajectory but I'd say this is pretty in line with The Post and Lincoln. I think I still prefer War of the Worlds to this.

      Delete
  2. SJHoneywellJune 16, 2026 at 12:29 PM

    Calling Spielberg "dated" reminds me of the funniest insult I ever got on a review post. After complaining about an art film that I found completely opaque, someone told me (after they got the name of the director wrong) that I'd be better off watching things that were less challenging, like the films of Steven Spielberg.

    Dated or not, the man has skills even if he hasn't made a truly great movie in a decade or more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 17, 2026 at 2:14 PM

      OMG lol. Well Spielberg definitely isn't "challenging" anymore but he does do a very specific set of things very well.

      Delete

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