FILM FRENZY

Emily Blunt in Disclosure Day (Photos: Universal)

DISCLOSURE DAY
★★★ (out of four)
DIRECTED BY Steven Spielberg
STARS Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor

In Steven Spielberg’s 1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the overriding theme (as well as the film’s original title) was “Watch the skies.” In Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, the overriding theme is “Watch your iPhones.” If that sounds like a depressing downturn, the filmmaker’s point still remains the same: We are not alone.

A movie about truth, justice, and the extra-terrestrial way, Disclosure Day chooses as its antagonist a shadowy government side arm, a firm known as Wardex. Presently headed by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), these are the folks who for decades have kept the fact that aliens have definitively landed on our planet secret, and they have the ample footage to prove it. Of course, that footage is never meant to see the light of day, with one reason being that it’s been determined that humanity as a whole wouldn’t be able to grasp such a concept, inevitably leading to breakdowns in religious devotion (as someone notes, it might be hard to believe in God when confronted with many gods). Another reason is that there are some very disturbing segments in the videos that present earthlings at their absolute worst — specifically, the bits that show humans cutting apart clearly anguished and suffering ETs in an effort to see what makes them tick.

It’s this torture footage that spurs many inside Wardex to turn whistleblower — that would include Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), the leader of the rebels, and Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), who’s the one in possession of the stolen intel. Hugo, Daniel, and the other whistleblowers believe everyone should know the truth and plan to release the footage on a global scale — first, though, they need to get in touch with Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), a TV meteorologist who unknowingly holds the key to the whole shebang.

War of the Worlds excepted, Spielberg has always viewed aliens as friendly, benevolent creatures, which makes Disclosure Day feel like the end of a trilogy that also houses Close Encounters and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. But those expecting to be dazzled by the types of astonishing effects that enhanced those films might be disappointed with this latest effort, not only because the alien FX work is only sparingly used but also because some of the CGI is shockingly unconvincing (particularly the animals that figure in the plot).

As a science fiction flick, Disclosure Day is fairly effective, tapping into philosophical questions that have existed ever since the first caveman noticed all those twinkly stars above his head. As a conspiracy yarn, it generates genuine tension, often playing like an episode of The X-Files or like a distant cousin to those great paranoia thrillers from the 1970s. And as a popcorn pic, it delivers as one would expect from Spielberg, with some exciting, edge-of-the-seat set-pieces — the director even finds a way to make the “car, meet train” scenario feel fresh.

All of this is well and good, but it’s obvious Spielberg, co-scripting with regular contributor David Koepp (a half-dozen joint projects, including Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), is mainly interested in his picture being seen as a source of optimism, a font of understanding, a vessel of empathy, and perhaps even an agent of change. These are lovely sentiments, bless his heart, even if they ofttimes feel hopelessly naïve. For starters, we’re supposed to believe that seeing footage of tortured aliens would unite the entire country — indeed, world — in shared outrage, but that certainly hasn’t been the case when far too many Americans, confronted with videos of ICE murders, immigrant abuse, and various civil rights violations, merely chuckle, straighten their red hats, and move on. There’s also chatter about a world in crisis and the possibility of World War III, but this backdrop is sketchily presented — a shame, since more focus on what’s happening around the planet might have placed the primary plot into even sharper focus and contrast.

Expertly mounted and benefitting from excellent performances by Blunt and O’Connor, Disclosure Day nicely mixes its matinee thrills with a more introspective approach to the sci-fi template. And if Spielberg’s outlook seems a tad idealistic and thus unrealistic… well, there are worse ways to view the world — and the skies.