Sci-Fi
Disclosure Day (12A)
Review: Director Steven Spielberg’s close encounters with otherworldly beings began benevolently in 1977 and broke our hearts in 1982 when a stranded alien explained to a young human host that all he wanted to do was phone home. Since then, the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s extra-terrestrial encounters have grown increasingly hostile, including a full-scale invasion of Earth in a slam-bang remake of War Of The Worlds and the interdimensional nonsense of the fourth Indiana Jones film. Spielberg reunites with Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, who also authored those last two out-of-this-world adventures, for a high-stakes action thriller that feeds on theories about governments concealing evidence of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) and unidentified flying objects (UFOs) from the public for fear of causing widespread panic. As one character in Disclosure Day sombrely remarks: “History doesn’t have a reset key. There’s no undoing it.”
Kansas City meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) arrives at her TV station in the nick of time to begin delivering her first report of the day. Uncharacteristically, she stumbles over words and stares blankly into the camera as strange guttural clicks tumble from her mouth. Colleagues rush to her aid and an emergency MRI scan reveals no abnormalities but her boyfriend, Jackson (Wyatt Russell), is deeply concerned about her wellbeing. Subsequently, Margaret experiences disorienting visions that indicate a personal connection to fugitive cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), who has recently stolen top-secret intelligence from the Wardex corporation run by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth).
Margaret and Daniel become pawns in a deadly global conspiracy that will change human history forever. Hunted by Scanlon’s merciless henchman, Casper (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), the fugitives rely on the kindness and assistance of Daniel’s girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) and work colleague Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo).
In tone and intent, Disclosure Day feels like a timely companion piece to Spielberg’s earlier films. Koepp’s script pivots around one protracted scene of meaty dialogue between Scanlon and Wakefield, which debates potential ramifications to the political and social order if evidence of first contact were openly shared. The truth about our tiny place in a vast universe is “a virus against which the world has zero immunity”. Through his idealistically opposed characters, Koepp deliberates who should get to decide whether eight billion people are vaccinated, if at all.
Filmmakers fashion a thorny moral dilemma into a high-speed cross-country chase replete with a spectacular centrepiece action sequence involving a train and psychological warfare using alien technology. It’s slickly engineered and frequently thrilling, emboldened by a barnstorming lead performance from Blunt. Her portrayal of a wannabe news anchor, who fears she is losing her mind, is among the actor’s most compelling and heartbreaking work and should land her an Oscar nomination next year. Co-stars beam up similarly strong performances – Hewson savours her delicious duality – and Spielberg sustains the dramatic momentum, making light work of a running time that feels closer to two hours. If, as Mulder and Scully professed on The X-Files, the truth is out there, is knowledge power or ignorance bliss?
Find Disclosure Day in the cinemas
