Steven Spielberg is, without a doubt, one of Hollywood’s most prolific filmmakers. If you tell the average person you have not seen the likes of “Jaws,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” or “Jurassic Park,” you might as well tell them you’ve never heard Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” These films are so ingrained within American culture that they are unlikely to ever fall out of it. At 79 years old, Spielberg has never lost his ability to cultivate heartfelt wonder through filmmaking, even in his latest projects. Despite our current cultural state of negativity, he seems to be one of the only filmmakers interested in happy endings. “Disclosure Day” could be described as an old man’s fantasy that, to some, may seem out of touch with current reality, but Spielberg’s unbridled faith in humanity is too endearing for modern pessimism to topple.
“Disclosure Day” follows two people trying to tell the entire world that extraterrestrial beings exist and the American government has been lying about it for more than 80 years. The world is also on the brink of World War III, and society is at the ultimate point of fear, dissociation and hatred, filling the film with a modern commentary on our lack of true communication. It is at this breaking point these aliens decide to reveal themselves, orchestrating their arrival through two messengers, Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) and Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), with the hope of saving the world from destroying itself.
Much like the inscrutable obelisk in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the goal of these aliens is to supply man with what they describe as “the last step in evolution,” unrestrained empathy. “Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know” is the stinging mantra of the film. Empathy can stop wars, heal families and prevent us from fearing things we don’t understand — which in this situation is intergalactic beings. Their message is channeled through the film’s two leads, who mysteriously gain differing powers of communication. Margaret possesses a psychic power to perceive others and instantly read who they are, grasp what the root of their problems is and supply a soulful solution. Daniel is gifted an adept knowledge of mathematics, which is used to steal the government’s hidden files on the creatures and translate their math-like language, allowing him to understand who they really are. Together, the two form a complementary partnership: One understands humans, the other understands aliens, creating the ideal bridge to share these beings — and the knowledge they carry — with the world.
This goal is not without conflict, as they try their best to evade a top-secret government-funded company named Wardex, whose sole priority is keeping the truth about aliens sealed. It is led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), who firmly believes that humans can not handle the truth about aliens. His journey of stopping our protagonists is filled with rage and poses the polar opposite of Daniel and Margaret’s sympathetic philosophy. Ultimately he does not trust humans with complete disclosure of information, as it would only cause more fear and division. In many ways, Noah’s a stand-in for our growing society that does not think this world is capable of change. This juxtaposition creates an interesting counterpoint to our characters and shows how the modern lack of hope can make one lose complete faith in humanity and lead them down a path of despair.
The problem with mirroring our modern reality is it creates a level of inference in this film that, for many, will turn them completely off completely. The main one being, if our world is on the brink of destruction, why would anyone care about aliens? This creates a bit of a logistical gap that can lead to a lot of questions, holding people back from what the film is trying to say about our world’s lack of empathy.
On paper, these plots sound overly complicated, but in practice, the film intersperses its abundant ideas about war, government control, human understanding and religion with action sequences, preventing the story from becoming completely overwhelming. The film has so much it wants to get across about the world, even outside the aliens; in hindsight, some of it appears clunky, but it never detracts from your experience in the moment. The nearly two and a half hour runtime could benefit from being a bit more length. In its current state, it is nonstop from the very beginning, creating an imbalance in the movie’s sequencing, with some things favored over others in an attempt to maintain its fast pace.
Most notably, the film seems primarily interested in Emily Blunt’s character, Margaret, and rightfully so, as this is by far Blunt’s best performance to date. Every scene where she uses her powers of understanding is a marvel of cinematic storytelling, once again placing empathy at the forefront. In several scenes, Margaret prioritizes the values of whoever she is talking to, bringing them to a level of comfort and understanding, drawing heavily from Christian theology and imagery to display her sensibility. Throughout the film, she never instigates violence and only empathizes with others to reveal what is bringing them anger or pain.
In contrast, there is a lingering underdevelopment of Daniel’s character. Where Margaret has several lights-out moments, Daniel does not. This misses the one-two punch the movie is going for. He is left with much less to do and, as the film progresses, is blatantly sidelined. He possesses a quiet tone — in direct contrast to Margaret — which creates an interesting dynamic between the two, but it feels like a scene missing that could show their unbreakable bond. Daniel’s lack of spotlight places him in this odd in-between state of a main character and a supporting one, hurting this movie’s journey and straying from its message.
But when “Disclosure Day” arrives at its climax, there is a swelling of jaw-dropping wonder and an overwhelming feeling of comfort in how Spielberg views the world in a near-utopian way. The idea that we are not alone in this universe and have so much to learn from each other could be seen as corny, but there is an authenticity from Spielberg in this sequence, washing away any issues the film may have presented before.
This film has faith in humanity, which, in a world where everything feels so uncertain, meets the cultural moment like a warm blanket, reassuring us that everything is going to be okay. It may be clunky at times, but its message rises above any lingering issues, moving at such a fast pace that only when the credits roll do you begin to question certain things. Spielberg again proves why he’s one of a kind, and if he believes that the world can change, then so do I.
Daily Arts Writer Sam Brown can be reached at sbrownie@umich.edu.
