Disclosure Day

Disclosure Day
Starring Josh O'Connor, Emily Blunt, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson
Directed by Steven Spielberg

Growing up I always had a fascination with the supernatural - ghosts, aliens, cryptids, and so on to the point where I wouldn't sleep upstairs because I thought aliens would come through the window and abduct me. Then during my late teen years I became a Christian and went to Bible college to study scripture, but never lost my wonder in the supernatural - even though I was told that there were no such things as ghosts or aliens, and if they existed they were purely demonic creatures. Much like with science, there always appeared to be a disconnect between supernatural and religion, as well as science and religion, with most religious experts claiming you can't believe in science (or the supernatural) and God - but what if it's not supposed to be separate, but the supernatural and the science answers the "why" of religion? "Disclosure Day" doesn't fully explain such thoughts, but opens your mind to thinking more rationally of not just our world, but the universe as a whole, and whether or not humanity is ready to accept it.

Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor) has stolen files from Wardex that has indubitable proof that not only do aliens exist, but the government has known about them for decades and have hidden it from the world. On the run with his girlfriend Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson), they're hunted by Wardex head Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) and his men, and Daniel receives information from another whistleblower, Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), about where to go.

Meanwhile, in Kansas City, meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) starts acting weirdly by speaking foreign languages and seemingly knows peoples' lives that she's never met. On air she starts speaking in an unknown language, and feels a connection with Daniel. As they try to come together, Noah and Wardex will stop at nothing to prevent that from happening and revealing the biggest government coverup in human history.

I've seen the trailers for awhile, and I was very intrigued by its premise - Steven Spielberg, our generation's most prolific directors - bringing an original alien story to the big screen after the likes of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T." sounded like a dream come true, but early reviews were mixed at best. Many people said they walked out bored, and others said the ending was lackluster, and everything in-between. There was also some TikTok creators who warned Christians to not attend the movie, because demons would come out and take you over. For that reason alone I couldn't wait to see it, and my new demon named Mortimer is pretty polite for the most part. So my expectations were dampened a bit which might be why I enjoyed it as much as I did, even though I can recognize its glaring flaws.

Those flaws to me are threefold, but none of them took me out of the movie entirely. First is the length. At 145 minutes it's far too long, with about 40 minutes you could cut from the movie to make it a more lean story. There's several chase scenes between Noah's men and Daniel that didn't need to be there and only made the movie longer.

Second is the misuse of focus. Instead of repeatedly having Noah's men converse on Daniel and Jane, there should've been more time spent on Margaret's character and her sudden transformation, as she served to be the biggest part of the story. She had moments where you could gain some understanding, but nothing was really fully developed to explain some of the actions she participates in. Also, a certain character disappears for most of the film with no real explanation, and their inclusion in the movie as a whole wasn't really necessary.

Finally there's the generic stupid moves made by characters that make no sense. Not going into details here because it'd spoil certain moments, but numerous times I wanted to yell at the screen at the stupid decisions some of the characters made.

For what the film does right, there's quite a few. The movie opens in the thick of things, like we've missed the first episode of a miniseries, and that immediately got me invested in the movie and discombobulated in the best way because I had no idea what was happening, adding to the sense of excitement - if only they didn't include so many different chases that sense of wonder would've progressed longer.

Emily Blunt gives a commanding performance, one of her best in my opinion. Margaret is an ordinary woman who discovers she's been given an extraordinary gift, and that stems from a past event in her childhood she's repressed. She has no idea what's happening or why she's suddenly able to do these things, and she plays the part well - especially when she's given no dialogue, but shows on her face the emotions she conceals deep inside.

The character of Jane was going to be a nun but left the convent because she lost her faith, and herein lies the Christian problem with the movie: if aliens exist, then that means there's higher beings than us, which means we'd worship them instead of God. At least that's what they believe. In one scene where Jane calls one of the nuns and is worried about this, the nun rightfully responds with "why would he [God] make such a vast universe, yet save it only for us?" From what I said earlier, growing up a Christian I was led to believe that the universe ended with Pluto, and there was no life out there because that means either a) Jesus only died for our sins, or b) there's another deity out there that died for theirs. Then we find out there's millions and millions of other galaxies out there with countless number of planets, and to think we're the only ones is extremely narrow-minded, yet that never shook my faith. I've always believed there's aliens out there, and it never made me question my faith - only those who are in authority who want to control what I think. This happened before way back when when the movie "Saved!" came out that poked fun at youth groups specifically. The youth pastor told us not to see that movie because it was demonic, and I asked him if he saw it - of course he hadn't, which, of course, meant I had to. Again, no demons, but dialogue that opened my eyes to the narrow-minded religious worldview I was forced to believe. As with science, the supernatural doesn't excuse an existence for God, but merely helps prove it.

The cinematography is top notch, with longtime Spielberg collaborator (and Oscar winner for "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan") Janusz Kaminski propels the story forward with the camera always in motion, either spinning around characters or breaking expectations in the action that keeps viewers feeling unsteady. In particular there's a one-shoter where Daniel approaches a farmhouse and the exciting car crashing into the train sequence. John Williams came out of retirement to score the film, which gives it an entirely Spielberg feel.

To that end, the finale of the film is true Spielberg - offering hope and unity in a world devoid of such things. While many feel the ending is underwhelming and sudden, it opens the viewers to come up with their own interpretations and question what happened. While I don't mind movies that give a strict beginning, middle, and end, I can also appreciate movies that leave things more open-ended because it allows discourse to be discussed.

While it's got its flaws, "Disclosure Day" offers a compelling story with thought-provoking ideas that, even though not expressed perfectly, does enough to keep you entertained and asking questions.

The Score: A-