Disclosure Day Review: Believe in Belief

Our desire for truth is the ultimate religion in Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, which leaves most of the disclosing offscreen, but that’s the point.

But Steven Spielberg’s latest, written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park) based on a story by Spielberg, examines a different kind of faith that’s deeply tied to our current socio-political climate: the kind that originates from our desperate need for empathy and our shared desire for truth.

It all starts with two seemingly unrelated events. In Occoquan, Virginia, twelve employees of a secretive corporation named Wardex have gone missing, including Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor, of Wake Up Dead Man), a cybersecurity expert-turned-whistleblower who has just stolen an important piece of extraterrestrial technology. Meanwhile, in Kansas City, Missouri, a visit from a cardinal bird awakens strange powers in television meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt, of The Devil Wears Prada 2), who, just like that, finds herself able to look into strangers’ eyes and not only know everything about them, but also offer them some much-needed empathy. Not only that, but Margaret can suddenly speak and understand many languages without even realizing she’s doing it, including one consisting – quite literally – of alien sounds which she inadvertently broadcasts live during one of her segments.

These two occurrences trigger different chain reactions that all lead back to the same company. Daniel and his love interest Jane (Eve Hewson, of Jay Kelly), are on the run with a backpack full of stolen evidence and extraterrestrial technology, following the instructions of fellow Wardex employee Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo, of Sing Sing) and trying not to get caught by the corporation’s evil leader Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth, of Supernova), who’s determined to keep the truth hidden from the world. Elsewhere, Margaret’s stunt has attracted some attention of its own, and trusting her newfound ‘glorious purpose’, she sets off on a journey of her own, knowing she has to find Daniel before Wardex does, but also hoping to get some answers of her own.

Steven Spielberg spent a lifetime being fascinated with aliens, a topic he explored in many movies, from 1964’s Firelight to the hugely influential Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), to more recent releases like 2005’s War of the Worlds. This year, he returns with a movie that is only deceptively simple. On the surface, Disclosure Day appears to be about two heroes determined to expose a secret, decades-old alien conspiracy on which they have plenty of evidence but that neither they nor the audience seem to actually know much about. But if you stop to really look at the film, you’ll realize that the conspiracy itself doesn’t even matter, as Spielberg’s movie is actually a religious allegory disguised as an alien invasion sci-fi flick.

Disclosure Day presents us with a messiah who softens and disarms everyone around her with a very basic, fundamental human trait that we are in desperate need of, in our day and age. Where the film’s sunken-eyed, cold-hearted antagonist is willing to use torture, interrogation, and even possession to get what he wants, Margaret offers empathy and understanding, protecting the abused and supporting the lost wherever she goes, which effortlessly, and often involuntarily, inspires devotion.

And when faced with the promise of not just truth, but one that has been concealed for years and dates back to important, recognizable historical events, this truth immediately takes precedence over any international conflict that may be taking place, regardless of whether it’s been verified or is even as life-changing to the wider world as it is to the people sharing it. Disclosure Day‘s clever narrative structure serves to highlight how, in an apathetic society that longs to believe in something, the promise of truth is the ultimate religion.

Besides its compelling approach to storytelling, Disclosure Day also excels in performances. Emily Blunt delivers one of her best performances to date and will have your eyes glued to the screen, making you laugh, cry, think, and even fear for her life. Josh O’Connor is just as good as Daniel, demanding our attention often with physical acting and facial expressions alone. The other standouts are the hypnotic Eve Hewson as Jane, the ever-excellent Colman Domingo as Hugo, the superb Wyatt Russell as the wonderfully chaotic Jackson, and Elizabeth Marvel, who leaves a mark as Sister Maura despite her limited screentime. Colin Firth’s Noah Scanlon is a purposefully unexciting character, but the star still develops in a key scene where he unexpectedly delivers all the emotion.

Technically speaking, Gary Rydstrom’s (Saving Private Ryan) sound design is flawless and significantly contributes to our immersion in the movie, often in a subtle yet highly effective way. The cinematography, from Janusz Kamiński (Schindler’s List), is similarly impressive, with fluid, innovative movements that make the film more engaging and believable, combined with a very interesting color palette that changes saturation depending on characters and situations. Sadly, the CGI isn’t always good, as most of the animals we see are quite obviously fake, though the aliens themselves are visually interesting, especially in an important scene that answers most of our questions. John Williams‘ score is not one of his best – it’s not as memorable as his previous tracks and there are some scenes where it felt a little out of tone – but it’s understandable, when the bar is so high.

What prevents Disclosure Day from being truly great is the combination of thin characterization and a series of plot holes. While our two protagonists are fully fledged characters whose journeys we are invested in from the start, the antagonist is severely underdeveloped. Moreover, the first half of the film is dense with exposition, with a plot whose elements either don’t make sense within the established narrative universe, or feel like devices that were added mainly for added nostalgia and gorgeous visuals than to give the film more meaning. Even so, the film still flows very well, delivering action, tension, and emotion in the most Spielberg way possible; you definitely won’t perceive its two hours and thirty minutes runtime.

Disclosure Day is not what you’d expect it to be, but that doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it. Spielberg and Koepp develop their interesting premise in surprisingly philosophical ways, delivering a movie that works both as a gripping alien conspiracy tale and as an insightful religious allegory of our current era. With superb performances from Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor and the whole cast, flawless sound design and cinematography, and a story you’ll be thinking about long after the credits roll, Disclosure Day is another stunning turn from a master storyteller.

Disclosure Day will be released globally in theaters on June 12, 2026.