2026 has certainly been the year of timely featured films, hasn’t it? No matter how big or small each film has been, one thing that nearly every big film released this year has in common is what it has to say in our current place in today’s world. Backrooms explored the hidden meanings of isolation and being away from others. Obsession showcases the sexual power fantasy of incels and the complete and utter nightmare that is the dating world for Gen Z. Project Hail Mary address the needed desire for the whole world to come together in a time of uncertainty to preserve their future. And for what we’ve seen and hear about Toy Story 5 and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the former will be about how A.I. and iPads is currently consuming Gen Alpha’s brains when that should be the job of toys and the latter will see our favorite web swinger learning to reconnect to the human experience with those he left in the past. And now here comes Steven Spielberg coming in with the clutch addressing the topics of UFOs and hidden government intel with Disclosure Day, a film about how effing crazy we are to discover the truth that those in power have been trying to hide from us for so long.
While I can’t say for certain when Trump will have the guts to pull the trigger and declare a Disclosure Day of his own, I highly doubt whatever he has to reveal will capture the gravitas and pure aura of what Mr. Spielberg is about to release into movie theaters worldwide. Disclosure Day makes for a very fine return to the sci-fi realm for Steven Spielberg, acting as both a nice modern updated expansion of his sci-fi work with E.T. & Close Encounters of a Third Kind and the most engaging UFO mystery thriller that doesn’t star Ryan Gosling since Arrival. It’s a tremendously shot (minus some eye rolling CGI), sharply paced, brilliantly acted, and a emotionally engaging thrill ride that knows which raised questions to answer and which ones are better to leave ambiguous. While I wouldn’t say it’s the best Spielberg movie in the post-Kingdom of the Crystal Skull era (largely because I love The Fabelmans and The Adventures of Tintin too much), it works perfectly as the right kind of an original “event” film that Hollywood doesn’t tend to make anymore.
Premise: A weather meteorologist (Emily Blunt) and a targeted cybersecurity whistleblower (Josh O’Connor) race against time to reveal extraterrestrial life. Their efforts spark a global crisis as they fight a shadowy government conspiracy attempting to hide the truth.
To say straight up front, yes, the film does indeed acknowledge that aliens are real! (No, this is not a spoiler! It’s literally in the title of the movie!) Spielberg is clearly not pulling any punches on his beliefs that there are indeed non-human beings that have visited our planet Earth that we don’t know about just yet. Disclosure Day isn’t interested in the tiresome “Are we alone or not alone?” debate but more of “If we discover we aren’t alone, how will everyone respond?” debate. It’s the desire of revealing the truth or covering it up that is the main narrative driving force of the film, with the characters constantly questioning among themselves if the truth is better to be revealed to the whole world or better to be locked away inside.
Perhaps the most refreshing thing about Disclosure Day is how it refuses to go completely one-sided when it comes to the discussion of revealing something as massive as UFOs existing among us all. Yes, it would be a grand discovery that would change humanity as we know it but would that actually be a good thing? Sometimes the truth itself can be too much if you chose to set it free. Would the world be able to handle the truth as big as that? Would it be able to handle the consequences of what comes next? Would people even believe the truth that stares them straight in the face? Would it lead to more conspiracy theories than ever before? There’s no easy answer to any one of those questions and the film doesn’t pretend otherwise.
Spielberg is clearly very comfortable in sticking his toes back into the sci-fi swimming pool that he helped form back in the 1970s and 80s. While plenty will be said on the film’s bold narrative swings involving questioning government intelligence (Slight spoilers but Watergate might now actually be the SECOND biggest scandal that Mr. Nixon was a part of!) and having your religious faith hanging in the balance after such a glorifying reveal, Spielberg is clearly more interested with using Disclosure Day to evoke his childlike sense of wonder in all of us, imagining a more optimistic world that exists outside our skies, our animals that live among us, and even our own humanity.
Is that line of thinking quite naive in the year of our lord and savior 2026? Absolutely but man, if only the world were THAT simple, right? Imagine all it took was one simple day of releasing footage of unidentified creatures for the planet to be unified! Oh well, but hey, we also got some cool high-stake chase scenes and a haunting score from our old pal John Williams to go along with the ride so there’s that.
Spielberg has gotten quite the ensemble and they all fire on all cylinders here. Emily Blunt gives easily the best performance of her whole career, acting as the main narrative drive as a Kansas City tv meteorologist going through a wide display of emotions as she discovers the truth about who she truly is. Josh O’Connor stands strong as the co-lead of the picture and as a distinct voice that absolutely refuses to be silent for what he knows. Eve Hewson does great work as a former nun that questions if her faith in God could prepare her for what’s coming. Colin Firth fits comfortably as the film’s antagonist as he stands with the side that believes the truth will be too much for the world to handle. And also, Colman Domingo is simple Colman Domingo and I am MORE than okay with that.
From a technical and overall directing standpoint, this is about as well made as a modern day Steven Spielberg movie can possibly be. There is some painfully distracting CGI with the animals in the film (I pray to God those animals were NOT brought to life with the help of Gemini!) but everything else is quite sharp and given proper love and care. The sound design is exceptionally great, it moves at a steady yet consistent pace, John William’s score fits perfectly with the subtle tone of the film, and while the ending will surely be seen as ambiguous, the whole sequence in the third act is so perfectly executed that it makes the entire picture live up to it’s intended title. This is a film that is heavily reliant on the ending being nothing sort of stunning. Opinions will DEFINTELY vary on that but if you ask me, I say it delivers quite a bit.
Although I could’ve done with a tighter runtime and certain details that weren’t left so vague, Disclosure Day is a very entertaining and thrilling ride that is worth seeing in IMAX and makes for another fine addition to the “NOT a Marvel/Star Wars/IP movie” collection of the 2026 summer movie season (This, Obsession, and Backrooms would make quite a triple feature!). The cast is terrific, Spielberg is clearly having a blast making a movie about aliens again, and the screenplay aided by longtime veteran David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man (2002) is able to have it’s cake-and-eat-it-too, operating as both a solid crowd pleaser and a layer filled character study that will have plenty of delightful “explain” videos made for it. Not every single question the audience have will be answered but the ones that does is given a proper answer while the ones it choses to leave in the balance might just be for the better, as one can only handle so much truth in one film.
I’m not gonna overhype it and tell you this is absolute S-Tier Steven Spielberg (To be fair, this is literally the same guy that was able to release Jurassic Park AND Schindler’s List in the EXACT SAME YEAR!) but Disclosure Day is more than enough proof that the godfather of blockbuster cinema still got plenty in the tank left in him and should still be treated with grace and dignity with each new film he releases. Even if not everybody will buy what Disclosure Day has to say about humanity and how the truth can lead to unity, it is bittersweet to see Steven actually try and perhaps that is what matters more than anything.
Just please don’t end your career making Hook 2, okay Steven!*
*(If anything, how about tell Peter to get off his butt and make The Adventures of Tintin 2 already! I need more Snowy the Dog in my life!)
Other comments:
- Also, fyi, how the f**k do you have this take place in Kansas City, Missouri but NO reference to the Chiefs? You see the Royals logo here but NOT the Chiefs?
- I get the Chiefs are leaving Missouri soon but come on Steven, they are still around and deserve a mention. It’s NOT the Royals that have won three championships this century!
- And where is the shout out to Travis and Taylor, Steven? I guess Toy Story 5 will have to pick up the slack on that, I just have to imagine Jessie’s owner Emily is actually Travis.
- It also odd that everyone seems to have the exact same stunned and shocked reaction whenever the the big reveals come in. If this was any other movie, you would expect that one comic relief guy to come out and be like: ALIENS ARE REAL?! F**K YEAH! I KNEW IT! or something like that.
- Shout out to that one guy who asked: IS THAT AI?!
- I’m more confident than ever that the sole reason that Spielberg chose to set this movie in my home state Missouri is because it’s considered the “SHOW-ME” state! If that’s the case, then brilliant!
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