I learned about the Fermi Paradox not long ago. It’s a scientific concept that explains, considering the billions of planets in the universe, why we haven’t come into contact with aliens yet. Part of the problem is that it might be rare for a planet to have just the right conditions to support life. Another problem is that most civilizations simply can’t evolve beyond their self-destruction. Yet another problem is that, considering the vast distances between habitable worlds, the only way to travel or communicate effectively would be faster-than-light speed, which is very hard if not impossible.

And yet. Look, I’m not a scientist and, in fact, I barely passed high school science. But I have a hard time believing that we’re alone in the universe. I can’t fathom the idea that, beyond us, microbes are the only life. I can fathom the idea that we’re insufficiently advanced, the universe’s meth lab, and aliens are avoiding us until we go into rehab.

But what happens when they reveal themselves? How does that change our borders, our beliefs, our senses of self? It’s an idea that Steven Spielberg has thought a great deal about. Along with being one of our best filmmakers, he’s also one of our most curious, and he’s indulged his curiosity with his latest film, Disclosure Day.

We begin with a wrestler getting his ass kicked. The crowd roars, and leaps to their feet. All except one person. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) sits quietly, hands clutching a backpack. Behind him is a man with a gun. Daniel is surrounded by people who are armed and quietly confident. They whisper to him to hand over the backpack, and Kellner’s girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) will be released unharmed.

What could be so important? Inside Daniel’s backpack are dozens of hard drives, all filled with incontrovertible proof that the United States government has made contact with extraterrestrials, kept them captive, and utilized their technology. Also included is a mysterious rod of alien origin, one with vast powers. 

Daniel and Jane manage a narrow escape. He tells her he’s part of a group of people formerly employed by Wardex, a private contractor that’s intertwined with the Department of Defense. His mentor Wakefield (Colman Domingo) had a crisis of conscience, and their plan is to release the drives to the world, come what may. The head of Wardex, Scanlon (Colin Firth), is positive that humanity cannot accept the reality of aliens, and he’ll do anything to stop Wakefield’s merry little band.

In the meantime, Kansas City TV meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) has a very strange experience with a friendly bird. Things get stranger when, on the air, she breaks into speaking a foreign language, one not spoken on this planet. Something has happened to her, something that connects her with Daniel, and something that will alter the course of human history.

If you’re online at all, and you are, you know that frequently people Have Takes. One of those takes is that Disclosure Day is Steven Spielberg’s best film in twenty years.* I don’t want to dive too deep into that concept due to recency bias, but I think it’s true that a) Disclosure Day is a solid Spielberg film and b) a solid Spielberg film is better than a lot of filmmakers’ best films. We take for granted how good he is, and how good he continues to be at seventy-nine years old.*** 

Spielberg has always been a populist filmmaker, and part of that is how laser-focused he is with balancing big ideas with providing pure entertainment. The film’s two hour and twenty-five minute runtime rockets by, and Spielberg continues to be a master of composing setpieces. Even his non-setpieces are setpieces, as evidenced by a oner*** set in a Kansas City news studio. Spielberg and cinematographer Janusz Kaminski show us an essential moment for Emily Blunt’s Margaret, where she’s flustered due to arriving late to work, then a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it half second of confusion, then Margaret launches into a discussion in Korean, then prepares for her weather report. It covers an enormous amount of narrative and character ground very quickly, and to do that, you have to know what you’re doing. Luckily we’re in good hands with Spielberg and his crew.

The script was inspired by a New York Times article**** Spielberg read. He wrote an extensive treatment, then contacted screenwriter David Koepp. Forty-two drafts later, the end result is an intensely empathetic and smart script. The characters are layered, fairly nuanced, and they all have a point of view that’s understandable. Scanlon and his people don’t think of themselves as evil. Instead, they’re making tough decisions to protect a world which would surely light itself on fire upon the discovery of aliens. Only…would it? The script digs into questions of faith, of the moral nature of people, and it does so without forgetting to be fun. Along with that is one of Spielberg’s favorite thematic trademarks, that of regular people dealing with extremely irregular events. Even when Emily Blunt is in danger of being shredded by a train, she doesn’t shrug it off like an action hero. She freaks out, a refreshingly normal response that we don’t see in film enough. It’s true that the script features numerous narrow escapes in which Our Heroes go in the one direction their pursuers miraculously don’t surround. If I’m being honest with you, in those moments that (repeatedly) happened, I thought to myself, “That’s super dumb, but I’m having a great time and do not care.” 

Spielberg is one of those filmmakers that, if you’re an actor, you bring your A-game. Emily Blunt, as usual, certainly does. As Margaret, she’s funny, panicky, brave, and seriously confused. She earns a number of the movie’s biggest laughs, yet her character is no joke. Blunt takes her journey seriously, and so do we. Josh O’Connor’s role isn’t as flashy, and it doesn’t need to be. His Daniel isn’t an unstoppable SpecOps dude, and he gets out of jams due to dumb luck as much as skill and creativity. He’s a little awkward and uncertain, which makes for a more relatable character. Hovering over all of this are the performances by Colin Firth and Colman Domingo. In a way, they act as the angel and devil on the collective shoulders of the audience. Firth’s Scanlon lives in a world of divisions, which is why he’s positive the truth will only exacerbate our divisions. Domingo’s Wakefield, on the other hand, is more compassionate and empathetic. He knows the power of seeing ourselves in others, and how that power can bring people together. Those four performances are the central pillars of the film, and they’re ably assisted by Wyatt Russell as Margaret’s hipster boyfriend, and Eve Hewson as Daniel’s girlfriend, who may be an unwilling threat.

One day, maybe sooner, maybe later, we’ll be visited by intelligent life. I think so, anyway, Fermi Paradox be damned. Disclosure Day thinks so, too, and is made by a cinematic visionary. He wants us to know that they’re coming. He wants us to be ready. Most importantly, he wants us to listen. 

*Another take that crawls from the fetid online swamps is that Spielberg is an overrated director. This is foolish, and I’m in awe that someone has the confidence to have an opinion that incorrect.  

**The legendary John Williams composed the film’s score at ninety-four years of age. It’s almost as if experience counts for something!

***A oner refers to a continuous sequence with no cuts. The best known oner is the Copacabana sequence in GoodFellas.

***Which you can read here, assuming you can make it past the paywall.

Tim Brennan Movie Critic

Tim has been alarmingly enthusiastic about movies ever since childhood. He grew up in Boulder and, foolishly, left Colorado to study Communications in Washington State. Making matters worse, he moved to Connecticut after meeting his too-good-for-him wife. Drawn by the Rockies and a mild climate, he triumphantly returned and settled down back in Boulder County. He's written numerous screenplays, loves hiking, and embarrassed himself in front of Samuel L. Jackson. True story.