Disclosure Day

Steven Spielberg and aliens go together like burgers and fries or milk and cookies. He’s a filmmaker who knows how to approach the subject in unique and unforgettable ways such as E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

His latest effort , Disclosure Day, sees Spielberg return to his form in ways that are wholly Spielbergian with intriguing elements and puts it together in a package that might be divisive amongst its target audience. I think it’s a movie that finds a strong focus on the material for most of its 145 minute runtime.

Emily Blunt stars as Margaret Fairchild, a meteorologist in Kansas City who begins speaking in a foreign language live on the air and she also develops psychic abilities after an encounter with a cardinal.

Josh O’Connor costars as Daniel Keller, a cybersecurity expert who steals a piece of top secret technology and he and his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) have to go on the run. Both Margaret and Josh’s activities come to the attention of Wardex, a government agency.

Colin Firth plays Noah Scanlon, the CEO of Wardex who begins a manhunt for both Margaret and Daniel but they’re able to find help with the help of a few whistleblowers. Colman Domingo costars as a former Wardex employee and sympathizer towards the two.

Of course it’s no secret that the movie deals with the existence of alien life forms and Spielberg is firmly in his comfort zone. He doesn’t quite say the aliens are friendly like E.T. Nor are they as intelligent or curious like in Close Encounters. Thankfully they’re not destructive like in War of the Worlds. If anything, Spielberg portrays the possibility of alien life as something with a great degree of plausibility.

He doesn’t make the movie into a full-blown special effects extravaganza, although there are two key sequences that are genuinely thrilling. There’s a train sequence which is riveting and suspenseful. Other than that, Spielberg keeps the emphasis less on CGI.

Spielberg showcases a deep fascination and a compelling justification of what would happen if we did encounter extraterrestrial life in Earth? Would we be openly hostile and perceive it as a threat? Or would we be inclined to be open and inquisitive? Spielberg and his screenwriter David Koepp flirt with a number of dynamics and nearly all of them work.

The cast is uniformly effective in their roles. The connection between Blunt and O’Connor is revealed gradually and while I think the screenplay doesn’t develop them fully, I think they make the material work by bringing a level of intelligence and being cerebral types instead of turning into action heroes at every sequence.

If Disclosure Day loses credibility, it’s in the climax where Spielberg himself can’t help but be lured into temptations of making his story delve into a sense of mawkishness or sentimentality that is profoundly Spielberg. Had he stuck with a more authentic resolution, it would have been a masterpiece.

As it is, Disclosure Day provides deep feelings and something ingenious to think about. It features a filmmaker who brings freshness to this subject and a stellar cast that sells it through and through.

Grade: A-

(Rated PG-13 for action/violence, some bloody images and strong language.)