Broad [SPOILER WARNING] for Disclosure Day. Just go see it first if you’re worried. Come on…it’s Steven Spielberg!
Here’s a scorching, red hot take for you: Steven Spielberg is one of the greatest directors of all time. Really went out on a limb with that one. And yet, it’s been a very disappointing 20+ years for the best moviemaker I’ll ever know, with a random exception here and there. Maybe it’s no surprise, that 2001/2002 were his last great attempts at original science fiction moviemaking, giving us an early look at A.I., and in my opinion one of the 10 best movies ever made. Therefore, it’s no surprise Disclosure Day is Steven Spielberg’s most exciting, and best film he’s chosen to make in a long time, if you like me, want to see the greatest filmmaker ever really dig deep and go for something truly profound and interesting.
Disclosure Day puts us on two different paths. One is with Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), a brilliant security programmer and his girlfriend Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson). Daniel’s on the run after stealing information from Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) and the Wardex corporation, a secretive defense contracting company that houses eons of unknown history, especially around intelligent life in the universe outside of Earth. The other story tendril takes place as Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) goes through her morning routine getting ready to deliver a weather report at KXCE, the Kansas City local news affiliate. But the minute a cardinal enters into Margaret’s apartment, something seems off, culminating in some sort of on air meltdown with Fairchild speaking in some sort of random clicking noises…or is it really random at all?
I can’t remember the last time Steven Spielberg tried to make something as contemplative as Disclosure Day. This movie really goes through the motions and conversations that the world would have if we all collectively find out aliens are real, and the world has been covering it up for decades. How can you possibly do that 2 hours in 15 minutes, grappling with something THAT big? Well that’s why Spielberg magic exists. Disclosure Day shows why no one will ever be as good as him, masterfully fusing the grand and the intimate into one. Like a therapist at the top of their game, Spielberg boils down this sociopolitical, religious, existential discussion into one very ubiquitous relatable question: do you believe? Now, within that simple question contains multitudes. For example, if the answer is no, how does that manifest? On the small scale, it can make you meek like poor slightly lost Jane, or if you get a little power, it can make you sad, fearful and dangerous, like Noah. And if yes? Well then there’s the likes of Margaret, forging connections with everyone, including people who likely hate her and what she stands for. Or perhaps you’re a Daniel, who struggles to connect with people, but tries his best to do so, using the tools he can to build bridges and translate to help others. Or again, with a little power, you could be Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), starting a movement built around a foundation of trust and warmth, designed to melt even the most cold, cynical people in your orbit. Also important in this question is how the answer to that question isn’t static, it evolves as you do: Jane starts the movie as a skeptic, having been a believer but slowly losing real connection to the world around her. So whether you’re the President of the United States or just a Chicago film critic happy to enjoy a walk about the city, do you believe? And maybe a little follow up, why or why not?
But Disclosure Day isn’t just a college philosophy class? It’s a movie. Spielberg the movie maker has a few moments in here that stand with any of his great sequences. There’s an incredible sequence following a character trying to extricate themselves from a tense situation. Spielberg uses the camera in a way I haven’t seen before, tracking the movements so we’re also the character, frantically trying to formulate a plan to get out of the impossible. 2 car sequences are among the best in a long time, one a great chase across rural America, the other something Spielberg said he’d wanted to try for a long time and finally got to do, with exciting results. Alien technology means superhuman editing to sell what happening, crafting moments of ominous fright, childlike wonder, and emotional potency depending on the needs of the story. And maybe his most underrated skill, Spielberg as collaborator gets great work out of an excellent cast, especially 3 women. Courtney Grace’s 5 minutes will take your breath away, Eve Hewson go’s from Bono’s daughter to actual excellent actor here, shapeshifting scene to scene in a way I’ve never seen her do. And maybe most importantly, Steven fully makes us understand what makes Emily Blunt special. All of the fantastic actresses skills are on display. There’s a oner where Blunt commands the screen with her presence and ability to draw us in, speaking multiple languages pretty flawlessly at least to me; then there’s the mini road trip Blunt goes on where the comedienne comes out over and over while never losing the plot; finally, she emotionally takes over a film with a look or a soft touch, from which the audience succumbs to her will.
In the end, the boomer Steven Spielberg made an old fashioned big budget movie for the masses. Yes sometimes it gets corny and a tad too simplistic about it’s messaging. But when you make movies like Jaws, Close Encounters, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan, you have a lot of leeway from me to tell the story you want to tell, using the good parts of old fashioned movie making to make Disclosure Day feel the way it does. I’m sorry Steven, I did stop believing for a little bit there, but I’m glad that that cynical part of me doesn’t get to win forever if I don’t want it to. Thanks forever and always, sir!