The aliens showed up. I wasn’t sold.

Emily Blunt and Colman Domingo shine in Spielberg’s latest, but the film’s big reveal never meets the ambitious build-up.

The night had finally come. After months of what I considered to be haunting previews, I got to sit down for Disclosure Day. Was the film entertaining? Yes. Was it interesting? I’d say so. But was I underwhelmed? Slightly. Did I expect something different/more? I think so. Disclosure Day I had hoped would give me that 5 /5 stars feeling, but instead I felt it was anticlimactic. Therefore, Disclosure Day gets 3 /5 stars from me.

Image from Variety

Directed by Steven Spielberg, Disclosure Day follows the unraveling of an extraterrestrial cover up from the United States government. A team of cybersecurity experts are at the core of this unraveling, with two individuals in particular who unknowingly are a driving connection between the extraterrestrial beings and our world. Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo truly bring this film to life, amongst a great supporting cast of actors. Emily Blunt is an incredibly versatile actress and her skillset was brought to the forefront of this film. She brought a relatability and compassion to her character that became the heart of everyone else involved. Another incredibly versatile actor is Colman Domingo. He never fails to amaze me and I think he grasps the audience’s attention every time he is on screen in a way few are able to do. He immerses himself in every role and I am nothing short of amazed each time he steps into something new. I do not think we’ve seen Josh O’Connor in a role like this yet and he brought life to a rather mysterious character the audience knew very little about.

That is where my first issue with this film lies. Despite being a leading character and a supposed soul connection to the ultimate climax of the film (the extraterrestrial beings), we find out very little background to Josh’s character. Emily Blunt is the clear lead and the audience gets an inside look into who her character is during the film, forging the audience/character relationship needed for success. However, the major involvement of Josh’s character in the plot of the film does not go unnoticed, yet the audience does not get to know him in the same way. Although intentional? It felt like a loose end that never got tied up, taking our connection to him away, in my opinion, opening the door for questions and confusion? Why is he involved? Why does he have a soul connection to the extraterrestrial beings yet we know virtually nothing about how. It felt as though we were invited into Margaret’s (Emily Blunt) world and not his.

Image from NBC

I think there were plot holes in this film where there didn’t need to be. I already mentioned the biggest one in my opinion (Josh’s character) but there were others. How exactly did Wardex become involved in the cover up to begin with? Who truly is the man in charge calling the shots and why do we see his humanity at the very end with little to no context? What was the intended result of extraterrestrial torture? How did Hugo end up leading this charge and what was his true connection to the cause? What was the goal of disclosure day and how did we get here?

Image from CNN

Lastly, my biggest gripe with this film that I know does not air on the side of popular opinion. When will we get a film that goes against the grain of stereotypical alien-like figures? I understand this is a Spielberg film. I’ve heard the perspective that the alien figure was a nod to ET, which yes I can appreciate the sentiment, but honestly, I was taken out of the moment instantly. There was such a dramatic and intense build up, who were these beings? And what we are met with is the same image we’ve all seen over and over again. I wanted to see something shocking, a different type of being maybe we hadn’t seen before. The ending similarly reminded me of how I felt about Bugonia. By the end of Bugonia I was taken straight out of the thrill. Some people prefer this and would walk away saying this was genius!! I won’t argue that, however for my preference, I was hoping for something more. Do I know what exactly? Not necessarily, but I’ll know it when I see it.

Is Disclosure Day worth the watch? Definitely. Would I see it again? Not likely. Was I hoping for something else? I think so.

Shelby Ferguson