Steven Spielberg's latest film, 'Disclosure Day,' available on VOD platforms, presents a narrative centered not on alien invasion, but on the human response to confirmed extraterrestrial contact. The movie explores themes of information dissemination, faith, and the potential for global unity or discord when faced with the existence of alien life.
The film opens mid-action, with protagonist Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) engaging in a dangerous exchange to rescue his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson), ultimately escaping with classified files that contain evidence of alien visitation. This sets in motion a pursuit by a private firm seeking to retrieve the sensitive data. Daniel's journey becomes intertwined with Margaret (Emily Blunt), a weathercaster who discovers she can understand and speak multiple languages, as well as utilize extrasensory abilities. These abilities are revealed to be linked to childhood encounters with aliens, which also bestowed upon Daniel an intuitive understanding of alien mathematics and communication.
Margaret decides to join Daniel in his mission to release the full disclosure of alien contact to the world. Their endeavor is met with apprehension from various factions. Jane, a former nun-in-training, worries about the impact of this revelation on global religious faith, fearing it could shatter existing beliefs about a higher power. Conversely, the company pursuing Daniel argues that widespread knowledge of extraterrestrial life poses too great a risk to humanity. The files themselves reportedly contain footage depicting the U.S. government and other entities engaging in cruel experiments on alien creatures.
The climax of 'Disclosure Day' depicts Margaret using her broadcasting skills to transmit evidence of 70 years of alien encounters. Spielberg portrays this as a global event, with people worldwide pausing to watch the revelations unfold on various devices. The broadcast originates from a local Kansas City affiliate, a choice that, along with the film's depiction of stereotypical alien appearances and viewers' wide-eyed reactions, has led some critics to describe the sequence as dated or naive. The film also features an escalating global conflict that appears to freeze as the world watches the alien footage, prompting questions about Spielberg's view of humanity's capacity for unity in the face of unprecedented events.
The film concludes with an alien being brought into the TV studio. The alien whispers to Margaret, who, possessing the gift of communication, turns to the camera and relays a single word: "Listen." This ambiguous ending has generated varied interpretations. Some see it as a direct message from the alien, detailing information previously shared, while others interpret it as a broader plea for humanity to listen to one another and eschew violence and hostility. Critics have labeled this conclusion as overly optimistic, naive, or a "cop-out."
However, an alternative reading suggests that 'Disclosure Day' is more optimistic than Spielberg's 'War of the Worlds,' which drew parallels between alien invasions and terrorist attacks. The current film, rather than presenting a vision of the world as it is, seems to express a hope for what it could become. The audience is shown a moment of collective pause, but not necessarily a resolution or newfound togetherness. The ultimate fate of the disclosed information remains uncertain.
Spielberg appears to be engaging in a dialogue with himself about humanity's trajectory, potentially revisiting pre-9/11 tropes of alien visitation and government cover-ups from films like 'Independence Day' and 'The X-Files.' The film’s optimistic yet open-ended finale, rather than being a simple embrace of "hopecore," can be seen as a fantasy that images still possess the power to capture human attention, even if they do not immediately unite everyone. Ultimately, Spielberg, while acknowledging humanity's uncertain future and perhaps not assuming inherent goodness, affirms his belief in the power of cinema.