Spielberg’s newest is summer cinema at its best
After spending some time ruminating on his past with the autobiographical The Fablemans, Steven Spielberg returns to summer blockbuster mode with Disclosure Day. Like E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and War of the Worlds before it, Disclosure Day mines Spielberg’s favorite topic: are we alone in the universe? But fear not: the new film is not so much a retread of old themes, but a fresh updating that’s more than a little relevant to our chaotic, uncertain times. With Disclosure Day, Spielberg has created the best kind of old-fashioned summer cinematic fare, giving us a film as action-packed as it is philosophical.
Spielberg opens his film in media res, with our hero, Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor, Wake Up Dead Man; Challengers) on the run with a mysterious device. Who Daniel is running from, where he’s going, and what his goal is are all eventually parsed out, but the film’s one flaw is that getting these answers unfolds more slowly than some may like. Be prepared to be a little confused initially. But even if we don’t immediately follow what’s going on, Spielberg throws in so much action and intrigue that we’re willing to roll with the story and see where it takes us.
Along the way, we meet other likable and not-so-likable characters, as Spielberg quickly establishes his heroes and villains. Weather reporter Margaret (Emily Blunt, Devil Wears Prada 2) begins talking in strange clicks on air, shortly after making eye contact with a red cardinal. Colman Domingo’s Hugo, a former colleague of Daniel’s at a secretive firm called Wardex, is building what looks like a movie set. Or is it? And Colin Firth’s Noah, Wardex’s nefarious head honcho, is fixated on finding Daniel and the device he smuggled out of Wardex. How and why all these characters intersect has to do with Spielberg’s longstanding obsession with extra-terrestrials. Daniel has knowledge of aliens visiting earth for the past 70+ years, and he wants to make the world aware that we are, in fact, not alone in the universe: a global Disclosure Day.
And so we are treated to a barrage of heart-pounding chase scenes (including a Mission Impossible-level train stunt), strange mind-bending alien technology, and the classic Spielbergian motif of technological evil versus childhood wonderment and innocence. That the film features a terrific cast who fully commit to material that is sometimes silly, sometimes heady, but always entertaining, is an added bonus. Co-written with frequent collaborator David Koepp (War of the Worlds, two Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones movies), Disclosure Day melds an X-Files-esque “the truth is out there” mindset with the pulse-quickening adventure of E.T.
There’s even a moment in the film that I can only assume is an intentional wink from Spielberg, in which you might think you’re about to see E.T. himself again. That this moment works both as an amusing call back and a breath-holding surprise speaks to Spielberg’s prowess in understanding his audience.
Spielberg understands, too, that any decent sci-fi movie needs more than just exhilarating fast-moving sequences to hold our attention. He and Koepp underpin the picture with a philosophical foundation that elevates the material from standard good guy versus bad guy to something with genuine depth and thoughtfulness. Daniel’s girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson, Tesla), a former novitiate, voices concerns about religion and humanity should the world discover the truth of a universe populated with other beings. She’s a proxy for the audience, who will leave the film musing on similar big philosophical questions about truth, purpose, and what we owe the universe and each other. I won’t give away the film’s answer, which comes in an “ah hah!” moment right at the film’s close, but suffice to say my immediate thought was “well done, Steven, well done.”
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Disclosure Day is currently playing, including at the AMC Metreon, AMC Kabuki, Apple Van Ness, Landmark Opera Plaza, and the Alamo Drafthouse in San Francisco, the AMC Bay Street in Emeryville, the Landmark Piedmont, New Parkway, Grand Lake, and Regal Jack London in Oakland, the Rialto Cerrito in El Cerrito, the Orinda Theater in Orinda, and the Cinemark Century theaters in Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill.
