Steven Spielberg is back with what I can only describe as one of my new favourite movies of the year.
Disclosure Day is a lot different from most alien invasion or sci-fi movies in that it feels very grounded. The first half feels like a thriller and the second almost like a fantasy drama. The science fiction elements do come through, but they’re not exactly part of the film’s themes. In fact, thematically, it almost feels biblical.
Disclosure Day is a 2026 American science fiction film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by David Koepp. In the film a meteorologist and a cybersecurity expert find themselves at the center of a movement to expose the government’s cover-up of extraterrestrial secrets.
Steven Spielberg has always been one of my favourite filmmakers. He has a way of making larger-than-life stories feel personal. This film feels like his most personal since E.T., and instead of a destructive alien invasion, it focuses on how we would really react if we found out extraterrestrials existed.
It’s more a story about humanity than the aliens, even though they play a key part in it all. The film has a strong emotional core and had me glued to my seat. It’s so easy to get lost in a story where the main theme feels like empathy rather than fear. It is about who we are, not who the aliens are.
Emily Blunt delivers a stellar performance. I would even say it’s an award-winning performance. Her display of emotion is next-level amazing, especially since her character switches between different emotions in split seconds. Josh O’Connor is fantastic as well, and Colin Firth is wonderful as the bad guy. The rest of the cast are phenomenal too, including Colman Domingo and Eve Hewson.
The film doesn’t only have a great story, but it also looks amazing. I wish I had gotten to see it in IMAX because I believe that’s the best way to watch it. The film was mostly shot on location, and that makes it feel even more grounded. The movie doesn’t have a lot of big action set pieces, but the ones we do get look fantastic.
The special effects are great for the most part, although some CGI characters didn’t really pop off the screen. I like that Spielberg kept a really simple design for the aliens. It makes them feel more realistic in a sense. It’s easy to see them as characters you can actually care about.
You know a film is going to be great when John Williams and Spielberg team up. Williams’ score is once again the emotional core of the film. It’s like magic the way Spielberg’s direction and Williams’ music flow together. They know how to tell a good story.
Look, to be honest, any film that starts with a wrestling scene automatically gets an A in my books. I do, however, have a few issues with the film, especially with the pacing in the middle and a few plot holes that I picked up. If I shared them, I would probably spoil the movie for people. All I can say is that it’s not enough to take away from how astonishingly wonderful the movie is.
It kept my attention, and by the end I wanted more. I felt connected to the world Spielberg created, and it made me think about what a real-life Disclosure Day would look like. If you love Spielberg movies and sci-fi, then you should definitely watch this in cinemas.
It’s an easy 4 out of 5 stars for me.
