Disclosure Day, Steven Spielberg’s newest offering regarding extraterrestrial lifeforms, brings a different perspective on visitors from other worlds. Sure, you’ll recognize nostalgic reminders of ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but it’s more about answers than speculation. And judging from the size of the preview audience, there’ll be plenty of spoilers everywhere. That said, you won’t get any from me!
The plot is driven by the idea that whether or not you believe in extraterrestrial life and what would be your reaction if someone showed you undeniable proof of their existence? Each main character’s motivation for their actions comes from what they think would happen – both to them and to the world. At the root of this idea lies a massive government cover-up which will most likely please conspiracy theorists!
Josh O’Connor plays Dr. David Keller, a cybersecurity specialist who has stolen data from Wardex Corporation about what the government knows. He feels that everyone has the right to know. He’s in constant danger as is his girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), because Wardex will do anything to stop him.
Colin Firth, looking all swarthy as Noah Scanlon, heads up Wardex and, along with his head of security, Casper Boyd (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), ruthlessly pursues and eliminates any threats to the big secret. Boyd is even more fanatical than Scanlon.
Emily Blunt brilliantly portrays Margaret Fairchild, a Kansas City television station’s meteorologist who longs to be a news anchor. Much to the consternation of her musician boyfriend, Jackson (Wyatt Russel), she constantly feels the urge to move until she finds the place where she truly belongs. He’s happy where they are; she’s not. Then, something happens that turns their lives upside down. She inexplicably develops extraordinary powers of intuition and communication. At first, she’s unaware of what she’s doing, coming to the realization that something has completely transformed her by other people’s reactions to her.
Since she’s on television when one of her new skills takes hold, she catches the attention of Scanlon and his Wardex crew. They aggressively intervene which sets up a cross-country car chase, quite harrowing at times, at first with Jackson in tow, but he soon bails. She continues alone even though she doesn’t really know where she’s going until she encounters help.
Hugo Wakefield, skillfully played by Colman Domingo, is a defector from Wardex whose opinion is the opposite of Scanlon’s. Hugo also knows how dangerous Scanlon is. He instructs Margaret to keep going – and hiding – until she finds Daniel Keller. She’s completely baffled since she’s never heard of him, but something inside her compels her to obey.
Other than saying that they do meet and discover why they were meant to, I’ll leave the resolution of the great chase and final confrontation to you to experience. This story works because of the amazing performances of not only the main characters, but also everyone down to the briefest walk-on part.
Filming locations were all in New York and New Jersey although scenes are identified as all states between Kansas City and the east coast. John Williams wrote the score and he never disappoints. The pacing of the first third of the film is sluggish. I felt a puzzling detachment from the narrative and characters, but by the middle, the building and relentless suspense grabbed me! I’ve begun to think that Spielberg did that intentionally due to the enormity of the conclusion – kind of a slow burn at first, and then the hammer drops.
If you’re a Spielberg fan, you must see Disclosure Day. – JoAnne Hyde
GRADE: A-