Disclosure Day tries to remind us what summer movies can be
Courtesy Universal
The biggest discussion point around Steven Spielberg’s latest film Disclosure Day (other than its many surface-level Kansas City references) is its status as a big-budget, true four-quadrant movie in a time when those are scarce. So let’s start there.
If you went to the movies in the 90s and pre-Marvel 2000s, you’ve probably found yourself saying “they just don’t make summer movies like they used to” at some point when looking at current theatrical offerings. You’re not crazy. You just miss when studio films had jokes and action that kept kids entertained, and storytelling and themes that made adults feel like they were still watching something for them.
What you miss is a summer movie designed to appeal to four major demographics: male-identifying, female-identifying, viewers under 25, and viewers over 25. Think of Speed, The Mummy, Men in Black, or Jurassic Park—movies with stakes, memorable characters, fun stunts, and shot through with imagination and clever dialogue. Spielberg built his career on movies like these. The big question is, can the creator of the summer blockbuster, re-teaming with Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, recapture the magic?
The answer is a rousing…kinda!
Courtesy Universal
Disclosure Day doesn’t meet the quality of Spielberg’s back catalog. It’s not as heartwrenching as E.T. or as colorful and evocative as Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It is hampered by several factors that currently define big-budget studio filmmaking (namely cold, dark color palettes and over-reliance on CGI). But when Disclosure Day works, it’s a thrilling reminder of how it feels to be in the hands of storytellers who know what they’re doing and are being allowed to do it.
Take, for example, the movie’s thrilling opening.
Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), a data scientist for a shadowy organization called Wardex, has stolen important files confirming the existence of aliens from his employer. As retaliation, Daniel’s boss, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), has kidnapped Daniel’s girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson). We meet Daniel attempting to exchange his stolen disc drives for Jane’s life. As the pair escape, we get the full picture of what’s going on and who they are to each other. Nothing feels rushed or over-explained, yet we quickly understand everything we need to. It is a masterclass in screenwriting that trusts its audience.
Unfortunately, the journey forward gets increasingly unfocused and goofy. We meet Kansas City-based weather forecaster Margaret (Emily Blunt), who one morning discovers she can read minds and speak other languages, including extraterrestrial ones. As Margaret feels inexplicably drawn to find Daniel, Daniel and Jane race to meet fellow Wardex defector Hugo (Colman Domingo), who has plans to share Daniel’s stolen information with the world.
Courtesy Universal
Oh, also, the United States is on the brink of nuclear war with North Korea.
There are rich ideas here. Could humanity ever accept the existence of aliens? What would such knowledge do to our belief systems, or our global politics? Could the world experience a collective event that made us put aside our differences? Have we lost our capacity for wonder? Disclosure Day spends so much time running around that it barely stops to answer these questions. You could build a whole film festival of movies that do compellingly consider these ideas—Arrival, Contact, Midnight Special, and even Spielberg’s own Close Encounters.
Everyone involved in Disclosure Day can do (and has done) better — though I will take a moment to point out that Firth’s Noah is the meatiest role he’s had in ages, and he tackles it with aplomb. That said, it’s worth seeing for the bits that remind you of what good blockbuster filmmaking can be: smart, curious, and inviting us to come along rather than shouting story beats directly into our ears. That’s cinema worth paying attention to and fighting for.
