Disclosure Day (2026) is fun but muddled

Hello readers! I saw Disclosure Day a few weeks ago, just after it released, and I have been mulling it over ever since. It’s safe to say that this film has been divisive, splitting the opinions of critics, online reviewers and ordinary viewers alike. I enjoyed it overall, although I knew it was far from perfect. So, when ratings, analyses and video essays started building up online, I was surprised to see how many people were calling it a disappointment.

Now, I may be stating the obvious here, but I think it is worth remembering that a film can only be a disappointment if it falls short of your expectations. People have been disappointed by Disclosure Day because it didn’t behave as they expected. They saw Spielberg, they saw science fiction, and presumably anticipated something in the vein of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). I’m not here to argue whether such expectations are justified – but I can tell you, as someone who knew nothing about this film going in, and who had never seen Close Encounters, that I enjoyed Disclosure Day more than enough to justify the £7 I spent on a cinema ticket.

That’s it for my spoiler-free review! I think that if you can watch this film with an open mind, you’ll probably have a good time. It’s by no means a masterpiece, but it’s still good fun.

Now, for those of you who have seen the film and think I’m talking rubbish: let me explain myself.

SPOILER WARNING

From here on, there will be spoilers! The following analysis is for people who have seen the film, or for those who can’t be bothered to see it but nonetheless want to form an opinion.

What is this film even about?

At its core, this film is a cat-and-mouse chase. You could replace the alien elements with comic-book super powers and still retain 80% of the story. The plot does not linger on the implications of aliens having arrived on Earth, or on how and why they got here, or what they want from us. Instead, we focus on two characters who have been given super-human abilities, who are on a mission to tell the world of a government cover-up. And of course, there is government operative intent on stopping them.

The more I think about it, the more I realise that this film isn’t really about aliens. The two protagonists could have got their powers from a Stranger-Things-esque government facility, or from a meteorite, or from a lab experiment gone wrong, and the plot would still work. The fact that they derive their powers from aliens is, if anything, a distraction – because as soon as you put aliens in the picture, the audience will have many more questions, and will expect many more answers. And this film never intended to provide those answers.

Instead, the bulk of the film is an action thriller. We have car chases, train chases, chases on foot… The characters are mostly running towards each other or away from the bad guys. Alien technology and superpowers are thrown into the mix, but again, these aren’t the focus of the story – they are merely tools to aid the chase.

If you want answers as to what the aliens want, where they come from, why they chose our protagonists, or how their technology works, then this film will leave you feeling robbed. I expect that this is why so many people view it as a disappointment. The purpose of this film is muddled: the audience are left confused as to what questions they should be asking, so when answers are provided, their effect is diminished, and when answers are withheld, the result is annoyance.

Still, there is a lot of good stuff here.

The characters hold this film together. In particular, it is the dynamics between the two protagonists, Daniel and Margaret, and their significant others that drive most of the tension. I thought both relationships were compelling, although Margaret’s interactions with her hapless musician boyfriend have more comedy value. The cast does a great job with what they’ve been given, which can be cheesy at times, admittedly.

There are also plenty of good ideas powering the plot. However, many concepts don’t receive the attention they deserve. The alien technological “device” is, to all extents and purposes, magic. It allows Noah (Colin Firth) to inhabit other people’s bodies, so he can work out where they are hiding, or try to cause them harm, which adds a new twist to the cat-and-mouse dynamics. Later, the “device” allows Margaret (Emily Blunt) to temporarily turn people and objects invisible, facilitating a final, grand escape from Noah and his agents. The various powers of the “device” are therefore responsible for some of the most memorable sequences of the film – despite the audience having no clue how it works.

Some viewers will have no trouble accepting that alien technology is essentially magic, with no possible explanation. Others will no doubt feel annoyed at the lack of structure and rules surrounding its use. If you fall into the latter camp, then Disclosure Day will probably leave you disappointed. Because unfortunately, most of the fun and exciting elements of this film fall apart if you scrutinise them too closely.

I can’t make up my mind about the aliens.

Like I said earlier – the aliens aren’t really the focus of this film. They are the catalyst for everything that happens, but their actions don’t have much influence on the plot. Daniel wants to tell the world that aliens have arrived, and that Noah’s facility has been conducting scientific experiments on them for decades, causing them significant distress – but the film is about his mission to spread this news, rather than exploring the impact of the news itself.

Many people regard the final act as the best part of the film. This is when Daniel and Margaret finally break the news, and the world finds out about the aliens. We see the reactions of people around the globe – focussing mostly on an American newsreader who is visibly moved – as footage of alien crashes and experimental facilities plays out in the background. I think people hold this scene in high regard because of how awesome it is, seeing alien spacecraft. In reality though, this scene is merely the payoff for Daniel and Margaret’s efforts. It doesn’t tell us anything about the aliens. I think (and I could be entirely wrong here) that we’re meant to be celebrating the success of their mission, and instead, the audience is left thinking: “damn, this is cool – imagine if the whole film had been about aliens?”

The film is muddled because it has two themes constantly fighting for dominance. The first theme is the cat-and-mouse chase, the recipe for a standard thriller. The second theme is “wouldn’t it be cool if aliens arrived?”, which is constantly sidelined, despite having a much stronger grip on the audience. If people come to the cinema to see aliens, and you give them a cat-and-mouse thriller with an alien side-story, of course they will feel disappointed. And of course, when they get to the final scene and see the aliens properly for the first time, they will feel like the rest of the film was inconsequential.

In short, the film did not balance its themes well. Its scope was too broad to fit into two hours, so it spread itself thinly, only scratching the surface of its most intriguing concepts – which left the audience with more questions than answers. The final scene, in which we celebrate the victory of our protagonists, feels more like the beginning of a much grander sequence of problems. Aliens are real. People know about aliens now. What will happen next? Any science-fiction-lovers will be much more interested in these global-scale ethical dilemmas than in the small-scale, logistical problem-solving that dominated this film.

Still, if you take this film for what it is – a small-scale cat-and-mouse thriller – and set aside any longing for a large-scale exploration of alien arrival or the ethics of information sharing, you will probably enjoy it.

Also, the alien design is… a choice.

We all know that Spielberg has plenty of experience in the alien design department. But in Disclosure Day, he has decided to double down on the “grey alien” stereotype – the one with the big head and black, insect-like eyes. I think the intention is to be deliberately derivative, connecting the film to “reality” by using a design we instantly associate with conspiracy theories, thereby prompting us to question whether such theories are actually real.

Unfortunately, many of us have existing opinions on the “grey alien” design. Personally, I think it’s become a parody of itself, and when I saw it in Disclosure Day, I couldn’t help but chuckle. The grey aliens are ludicrous. I wasn’t meant to be laughing in the final act, but I was. So, I was certainly entertained – but probably not as Spielberg intended.

In summary…

Do not expect Disclosure Day to be a sequel to Close Encounters. It is not. They are wildly different films. Viewed through an unserious, uncritical lens, I think Disclosure Day is standard popcorn-worthy entertainment – but philosophical treatise, it is not.

Maybe these sorts of ideas can only be explored to their full potential in a longer format than a two-hour film – say, a book trilogy? What would I know…

Disclosure Day (2026): Did Spielberg steal my story?

Happy reading, and have a lovely week!