Well, that was a waste of time.

Two fugitives are on the run from a shadowy intelligence agency hellbent on keeping Government secrets hidden. Meanwhile, a weather reporter for a News channel starts speaking an alien dialect.

Disclosure Day was widely touted as director Steven Spielberg’s “return to form” as it is about aliens. Oops, spoilers. But not really, as it is plainly obvious from the marketing. It has a star-studded cast of familiar faces: Josh O’Connor (Wake Up Dead Man), Emily Blunt (The Fall Guy), Colin Firth (1917), Colman Domingo (The Running Man), and Wyatt Russell (Thunderbolts*). It is written by Spielberg but also David Koepp.

Are the aliens among us, or is this just pure alien?

The film starts with O’Connor’s Daniel getting into hot water with Firth’s nonchalant Noah. Daniel was supposed to dead-drop an important, strange-looking artifact that Noah’s agency desperately needs. Instead, Daniel flees the scene with his girlfriend Jane (who had been held as ransom). Taking the device with him.
Elsewhere, weather reporter and wannabe news anchor Margaret (Blunt) and her partner Jackson (Russell) are confused as Margaret starts speaking random languages. More than that, she starts sensing people’s thoughts. All of this comes to a head when Margaret is contacted by a mysterious party, telling her to find Daniel…

Oh boy. What to make of this.
There’s only so much Spielberg direction can do when the story is this floppy in execution. By the second act, I was bored. By the end of the movie, I couldn’t believe I had waited so long for so little payoff.

David Koepp’s name is up beside Spielberg’s in the marketing. He did write Black Bag, which was in my top ten of 2025. But this film does not suggest either man’s capabilities at all. Unless you realise Koepp also co-wrote Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. And Jurassic World: Rebirth. And Tom Cruise’s The Mummy. Yeah, then you can question the quality of everything here.

It is going to get spoiler-filled from here on. I simply can’t explain the issues without going into the plot. All I can say is, curb your enthusiasm. As a science fiction fan, this film left me wanting.

The film’s goal, it appears to be, is to give the audience a taste of the titular “disclosure day”. But to do this, they need to keep us in the dark as to what exactly happened and/or is happening. But how to do that when our two lead characters are integral to the happenings and goings-on? Well, you can’t.
Immediately, O’Connor’s character has an alien device of unknown power. Immediately, Blunt’s character is speaking weird languages. Not long after that, we see aliens. So aliens exist. The movie is telling us, with the agency of the heroes and the antagonists, that aliens are real. There is virtually no doubt or second-guessing or alternatives. When the film’s climax rolls around (Disclosure Day) it is weightless. Oh, aliens are real? Yeah, we know.

More nuanced writing issues are present. Apparently our world is at war, but the film doesn’t really focus on that. Seemingly we are suffering from a “lack of empathy”. Blunt’s character, who can read minds, becomes a saviour analogue who throws around personal epiphanies to individuals like confetti. This also becomes airless; we don’t know any of these characters or their background. They just become misty-eyed when Blunt speaks to them. The film’s final theme, its pièce de résistance, is the most cringe-worthy experience I’ve seen in a long time. Probably since Independence Day said that the world’s nations hang on America’s every word. But at least that was funny; Disclosure Day is extremely earnest.

I practically face-palmed when our lead protagonists, upon seeing something incredible, both say: “Woah.” Incredible writing.

Huge amounts of the runtime are wasted with Firth’s Noah entering people’s minds to learn where they are so the chase can continue. What little soul-searching that takes place is surprisingly immaterial or throw-away. For a movie about empathy. Religion becomes a talking point, until it isn’t any more. One major character just disappears from the movie entirely only to pop back in for the finale.
Speeches roll on and on about “truth” and “empathy.” One character is literally meant to be all about “mathematics”, yet does absolutely nothing with mathematics. I think they just use USB devices to upload video.

This lambasting I am giving the movie really summarises my experience overall. It can be hard to be objective at times like these. But I will draw the positives now.

The Spielberg character chemistry is somewhat there. Although it is more War of the Worlds than any of his homely, family-driven masterpieces. Our two pairs (Blunt and Russell, O’Connor and Eve Hewson) have chemistry, especially the first pair. Blunt is having a good time here, there are some fun moments early on as she dials up the ditzy and wacky vibes. Firth is playing a positively slimy villain, although he seems pretty toothless when it all comes down to it.

There some okay action scenes, especially one involving a train. But the film is largely a personal experience and not an action movie. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t have the writing finesse to convey any of its emotional gravitas.

Answer me this. You have Steven Spielberg directing and co-writing a film in which the main theme is empathy. Yet I felt nothing. Nothing at all. How is that possible?

This isn’t shade on this film, but there’s one thousand times more human empathy in Project Hail Mary. And that was directed and co-written by those behind The Lego Movie. I am genuinely quite surprised at how uninteresting and unaffecting this movie is.

Additional Marshmallows: If you know the villain can see where you are through your friend’s eyes. Maybe try BLIND-FOLDING them?? Idiots.