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Not a flat-out fizzer but definitely nowhere near the ludicrously high standards he’s set for himself, Steven Spielberg’s return to sci-fi goes down as a mid-tier entry in his personal canon – albeit one elevated by Emily Blunt and a couple of the type of nuts action sequences that few others could pull off.
The fabulous Blunt continues her hot streak as Detroit TV meteorologist Margaret Fairchild, whose life takes a freaky turn after a strange kitchen table encounter with a cardinal bird. Within moments, she’s speaking fluent Russian to her boyfriend (Thunderbolts*’ Wyatt Russell) and doing an alien-sounding clicking sound on live TV. Turns out ET isn’t phoning home any more, he’s presenting the weather.
Also on the run is cybersecurity wonk-turned-whistleblower Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) with stolen files from a sinister agency that prove the existence of aliens – with his old boss (Colin Firth, growing into a rare villain role) in hot pursuit. Oh, and the world is on the verge of nuclear war over North Korea, albeit this is a backdrop that’s given scant attention.
It’s a lot to pack in, and even John Williams’ mercurial but hardly memorable score seems unsure which beats to underline. Boiled down, though, it’s the connection between Margaret and Daniel – plus Colman Domingo as Hugo, the Morpheus of the disclosure operation – that underpins the fugitive thriller that breaks out.
Russell gets the best lines as Margaret’s doofus musician boyfriend Jackson, while Daniel’s ex-noviate girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) and her old mother superior Sister Maura (Elizabeth Marvel) introduce the question of faith into the mix. If aliens exist, where does that leave God? And Firth’s baddie, when he’s not using alien tech to patch in to his targets’ consciousnesses, raises the other big question: can humanity even handle this vast new revelation?
The strenuous script struggles to carve out enough space for it all
The story for Disclosure Day was conjured up from Spielberg’s own imagination – not a bad place to start – but it feels like he might have been in the middle of an X-Files binge when he did it. Penned by his old Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, it’s less about how the truth is out there and more about what happens when you dust it off, make it camera-ready and share it with the world’s population. But Koepp’s strenuous script struggles to carve out enough space for the big ideas, big action beats and loads of scenes in which sinister blokes in suits drive around in black cars. There’s a herky-jerky quality as it zips between showdowns, getaways and philosophical pow-wows. The ending is powerful, but otherwise the motherlode is only hit during a thunderous train sequence – a level crossing scene with more violent echoes of Close Encounters – and a couple of car chases captured with gravity-defying camera work.
Rather than Spielberg’s own oeuvre, the film it most reminded me of is North By Northwest. Hitchcock’s classic thriller shares many of the same ingredients: the couple on the run, the smoothly sinister English villain and his grim-faced henchman (Henry Lloyd-Hughes here), the conspiracy, the set-pieces. If only Disclosure Day had more of its breathless tension and breezy charm.
In UK and Ireland cinemas now. In US theaters Fri Jun 12.