The arrival of a new Steven Spielberg film is always cause for anticipation and excitement, and our newly minted writer Paul Gratton gives us his reaction for the newly released DISCLOSURE DAY. Read more below!
About: Disclosure Day is a sci-fi conspiracy thriller directed by Steven Spielberg. Set on the brink of World War III, the story follows a cybersecurity expert and an empathic meteorologist who attempt to expose a decades-long global alien cover-up orchestrated by a secretive U.S. government contractor.
Reaction: It has been said from marketing surveys that Gen-Z has no interest in Spielberg and that this film is for boomers. Too bad, their loss. In revisiting his golden hits of yore, Spielberg has managed to remain faithful to his roots, while reinventing his whole tone and approach. The film remains more interested in human beings’ reaction to getting proof that we are not alone in the universe than to the actual aliens themselves. But this time, the film does not focus on suburban nuclear family awe at the encounter. This one, befitting the times, is a much darker thriller, with two middle-aged childless protagonists trying to outrun government sponsored goons who are trying to keep the truth about UFOs from the public. One is a 38 year old female weather reporter from Kansas City (brilliantly played by Emily Blunt) who starts talking in foreign tongues and seeing right through people into their very souls after a visitation from a cardinal. The other is an online hacker who has run off with proof of the experimentation and torture the US government agency hired to deal with UFOs have been perpetrating on interplanetary visitors since the late 70s. Spielberg does show his age, perhaps, with his quaint trust in legacy media, especially television, and its ability to change the world’s consciousness in one live feed. We know accusations of fake news, AI fabrication and instant conspiracy theories would immediately serve to confuse the message. But what a thrilling ride it is getting to that point, with car chases, invisible houses, and a car/train sequence so exciting it is worthy of Mission Impossible. The creatures are faithful to Carlo Rimbaldi’s original Close Encounters designs, and the brief rumination on the nature of divinity when confronted with the proof of superior beings feels like a nod to Kubrick. But the real poke in the ribs is to the Trump regime. Substitute the UFO files for the Epstein Files and the film’s thuggish attempts at government repression would work equally well. Throw in the kicker that the aliens’ secret weapon is not force, but…empathy! And you can appreciate that Spielberg may be approaching 80, but is still a vital filmmaker feeding off contemporary issues. To borrow the final line of the movie, all we have to do is “listen”.
Rating: 8 out of 10
