Disclosure Day is undoubtedly one of the most human films about extraterrestrial intelligence. And I am not playfully throwing around the word “human” to show how the film is humanising the “aliens”, nor is it empty praise aimed at Steven Spielberg. There are two factions at loggerheads in the film: the whistleblowers who want to tell the world that they are not alone in the universe. And there is a powerful shadow organisation called Wardex, which has been hiding the secret and exploiting it for more than five decades. And these two factions represent the most human characteristics. No other living organism on Earth is more obsessed with control, whether it is controlling members of its own species or its environment, than humans. This is represented by Wardex. No other living organism on Earth is actively trying to understand the other as much as humans. In pursuit of this, and despite our immense capacity for violence and destruction, humans have developed language and subsequently built civilisations, just so they can connect with others. Empathy and the pursuit to enlarge our capacity for empathy stands at the core of our being. And this human nature to connect is represented by the whistleblowers. This is why the biggest weapon that the aliens and their allies, the whistleblowers, have against Wardex is empathy. Whenever Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) wants to escape from her captors, she uses her psychic abilities to make them “understand her” by telling them their intimate family secrets and desires, and giving them guidance on how to fix their issues. And that is just one of the many layers that the film lets you ponder upon. Such levels of thematic intricacy are unsurprising from a master like Steven Spielberg. But there is a fine line between intricacy and depth, and the film struggles to cross that line.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo

Not long ago, the US Government declassified sensitive information regarding UFO/UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) sightings. Instead of conspiracy theorists and sensationalists, we got reputed names like the US Navy Commander David Fravor, coming forward to share their experience of coming in contact with what seemed to be advanced technology of extraterrestrial origin. While it wasn’t definitive proof, at least we couldn’t debunk the footage and documents like before. But the declassification barely stayed on top of the global news network for more than a week. This is the most puzzling thing about Disclosure Day. The way the film expects the public to react to signs of alien life is far removed from the current reality, especially at the end. It struggles to capture this era, which is plagued by disinformation, short attention spans, an ironic disinterest and indifference to anything, a result of being numbed by the constant bombardment of information. There is also no clear understanding of why the truth was kept secret for so long or why the aliens stayed in the shadows until the events of the film. They seem to possess incredible technologies, one that could manipulate reality, people’s feelings towards someone, and invisibility? (The capabilities of the alien technology are wildly flexible depending on what the script needs at the time) And they still choose to rely on a group of maverick whistleblowers, instead of, I don’t know, slowly making the people comfortable with the idea of life beyond Earth by subtly engineering pop-culture propaganda, through genius filmmakers, over several decades? The film is also uninterested in debating the nuances of a grand scenario like humans meeting an alien civilization. Disclosure Day discusses a lot more, like the role of faith in all of this, subtly with how Margaret quickly turns into a messianic figure, and more explicitly with Jane’s (Eve Hewson) conversation with the nun. However, it fails to discuss a number of other basic questions we have with its story. How do we trust the aliens’ intentions? What is Wardex’s side of the argument? What is the correlation between the aliens’ extreme empathy, their advanced intelligence, and their relentless efforts to study and connect with the humans? Interestingly, the film works if you look at it as a bleak scenario about an alien invasion, where we are not defeated by the aliens through war, but by our innate desire to connect, even if it means sharing a secret, one which hides a psychological manipulation. Maybe we are not supposed to believe Hugo Wakefield’s (Colman Domingo) “Trust me, the aliens are good” speech. Maybe he fell for their propaganda, and his whistleblower group are “cultists”. Whenever the aliens visited the humans, they presented themselves as docile animals, a reindeer or a bird. A character says they do so to “calm us”, but it could also be a part of their deception. Through this lens, the final line of the film feels incredibly chilling. It cuts to black with Margaret (after receiving instructions from an alien), standing in front of the camera and says to the world, “Listen.” The abruptness of the ending makes the word fall on us like a command. Is the film trying to say that humanity has now lost its agency?  

Speaking of Emily Blunt, she gives a performance worthy of every accolade. Her work in the film is only rivalled by Steven Spielberg himself, who, once again, proves that he is the master of blocking and composition. The director, along with cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, moves the camera around like a conductor channels music from several instruments into a symphony, in a way that makes sure not a second of your attention spills over. Legendary composer John Williams is a delightful companion throughout the film.

Disclosure Day leaves you with a lot of questions and some unfinished thoughts. It felt like an espionage thriller was coming in the way of a much better story about humanity facing the biggest answers to its most ancient question. The biggest problem with the film is that it leaves you wanting more, and its biggest strength is that it is interesting enough to make you wish for more. In that way, the film is as flawed and as wonderful as humanity.