Steven Spielberg has dealt with the subject of extraterrestrials on three occasions; two of those films, E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, are all-time classics. (Your mileage may vary on War of the Worlds.) Now, the filmmaker returns to the topic with his 35th feature Disclosure Day — though the visitors in this film are already among us.
The Truth is Out There In Spielberg’s New Movie Disclosure Day
Josh O’Connor stars as Daniel Kellner, a young cybersecurity expert on the run. When the film begins, he’s in a jam; he’s stolen a trove of secrets from his former employer, a shadowy, high-tech NGO with an interest in extraterrestrial technology. They have him cornered; his girlfriend, a former novitiate turned agnostic (Eve Hewson), has been kidnapped to coerce his cooperation.
Kellner manages to escape with both his paramour and his loot, but the bad guys are on his tail. He receives vague instructions from another errant former coworker (Colman Domingo) and hops between safe houses; meanwhile, in Kansas City, an ambitious meteorologist has a bad day at work. Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) breaks down during a weather forecast, unleashing a bizarre series of clicks and glossal exclamations before collapsing. Oh — and she’s suddenly telepathic, drawn to find and assist Kellner despite having never met him.
A Cat-and-Mouse Game, but the Cat and the Mouse Are Aliens
For most of Disclosure Day’s 145-minute runtime, Kellner and Fairchild are evading capture. The villains, led by a steely exec named Scanlon (Colin Firth), are tracking them through a sort of high-tech astral projection; Scanlon can both occupy the minds of those around our heroes and take over the motor functions of their compatriots.
That conceit (and a similar trick that Fairchild can conjure) add a bit of variety, and Spielberg draws decent tension out of high-concept situations. The trouble, though, is that this sort of story — noble outlaws trying to stay alive and at large — renders the circumstances moot. Kellner and Fairchild could be spies trying to escape a hostile nation; they could be bandits trying to abscond with the loot from a train robbery. No matter how novel the subject matter is, the action itself is somewhat tiring.
Blame the screenwriter, perhaps. David Koepp has a number of undeniable efforts to his name; he co-wrote Jurassic Park with the novelist Michael Crichton, collaborated on the original Mission: Impossible script and penned the 2002 Spider-Man film on his own. He also, however, has a sturdy roster of duds: Tom Cruise in the franchise-killing The Mummy, the abominable Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the aforementioned War of the Worlds.
Spielberg has worked with Koepp frequently; they’re clearly close. Perhaps, though, he should’ve looked at his own track record: When Spielberg does aliens without Koepp, he makes a masterpiece. When they team up, the results are middling.
It’s Too Good to Be Bad
Fortunately, there’s simply too much talent here to let Disclosure Day fall apart. Spielberg turns pedestrian sequences into feats of action and tension. The supporting cast — particularly Domingo and Hewson — elevate their co-stars. And handsome cinematography, by longterm Spielberg collaborator Janusz Kamiński, gives the film a metallic, conspiratorial air.
The concluding sequence is wonderful. I won’t spoil it, but the last 20 minutes had me riveted. At the risk of second-guessing some of the most successful people in Hollywood, I think the film should’ve started there — a look at the world after the titular Disclosure Day would’ve been far more fascinating than the extended chase sequence we got, handsome though it was.
It’s still Spielberg, though. Even if some swings don’t result in a home run, he never strikes out.
Story by Sean Collier
Featured Photo Courtesy of Niko Tavernise/Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment
Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.
