Spielberg’s ‘Disclosure Day’ reveals aliens and human truths – Review

Steven Spielberg and aliens go back a long time – they're the cinematic equivalent of peanut butter and jelly. And the history of that successful pairing has led to his new sci-fi thriller “Disclosure Day.”

Films like “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T.” and “War of the Worlds” dealt with first-contact scenarios, some cuter than others. Armed with a spectacular cast for “Disclosure Day” (★★★½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters June 12), Spielberg takes an imaginative look at what it would look like if humanity actually found out it wasn’t alone in the universe, and the efforts by some to keep that information hidden. It’s classic Spielbergian fare, given that it’s a movie much more about us than intergalactic beings.

The action-packed cold open, though, is right out of an Indiana Jones flick, where Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) has to rescue his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) from a governmental goon squad. An ex-con cybersecurity expert, Daniel is among a group of whistleblowers from the shady agency WARDEX who nabbed evidence of a massive, nearly 80-year cover-up that, if revealed, would be a turning point for civilization. WARDEX main man Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) wants to keep that from happening, because of the potentially devastating and destabilizing fallout.

Meanwhile, in Kansas City, TV meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) has big dreams of being an anchor, but after a strange visit from a cardinal that flies in her window, she suddenly starts speaking in an alien language on the air, freaking out her boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell) and her co-workers.

Daniel and Jane go on the run, with the help of Daniel’s chief ally Hugo (Colman Domingo) to keep them off the grid. And Margaret finds herself strangely driven toward this guy Daniel she’s never met. Their connection – and shared mysterious backgrounds – is divulged over the course of the movie, and Daniel and Margaret meet up and work together as complementary components for a common goal.

There’s a lot of alien intrigue going on, but the human stuff on the whole works much better, mainly thanks to several inspired performances. Blunt, for one, is fantastic in a career-standout role: Margaret embarks on a journey that's a complete mystery yet she also understands people on an extremely deep level. She’s an empathy machine who’s the yin to Scanlon’s yang, as Firth’s character deals in cruelty and misplaced morality.

O’Connor gets the role of thinking man’s action hero, though he excels in emotionally revealing moments opposite Blunt and Hewson. The latter’s character is a former nun, and Hewson and O’Connor get one of the film’s headiest scenes discussing how people’s belief in God would be affected by the existence of aliens.

Religious implications is just one of many big ideas Spielberg dives into with screenwriter David Koepp (“Jurassic Park”), along with action sequences that feel like his signature touch, from a farmhouse car chase to a harrowing train collision, plus yet another spot-on John Williams soundtrack.

Of Spielberg's alien-specific sci-fi bits, some are more successful than others – a cosmic “device” that works differently depending on the user is among the head-scratching bits, and a lot of things are left frustratingly unexplained. (Likely by design; Spielberg’s a sly one.)

But the wholly riveting climax is among the best in Spielberg's legendary career – which is truly saying something. Past and present are utilized in such a fascinating way as the filmmaker takes his premise to a logical, honest and heartfelt conclusion. Until actual extraterrestrials show up, the most otherworldly thing we’re regularly privy to is how great a storyteller he continues to be.