Disclosure Day (dir. Steven Spielberg)

by Jack Martin | Jun 11, 2026

Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 145 mins

UK Distributor: Universal Pictures

UK Release Date: 10 June 2026

WHO’S IN DISCLOSURE DAY?

Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell, Elizabeth Marvel, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Michael Gaston, Elliot Villar, Tommy Martinez, Mckenna Bridger, Patricia Conolly, Noah Robbins, Chavo Guerro Jr., Lance Archer, Brian Cage, Gabby Beans

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Steven Spielberg (director, producer), David Koepp (writer), Kristie Macosko Krieger (producer), John Williams (composer), Janusz Kaminski (cinematographer), Sarah Broshar (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A government whistleblower (O’Connor) plans to reveal secrets concerning extraterrestrial life…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON DISCLOSURE DAY?

Although he’s become pretty synonymous with the sci-fi genre as a whole, Steven Spielberg has made surprisingly few movies with aliens in them. Of course, there are the classics Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, as well as more recent efforts like War of the Worlds and (perhaps most controversially, depending on who you talk to) Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Beyond that, his sci-fi dabbling is mostly just robots, dystopian futures, and accident-prone dinosaur theme parks.

But Disclosure Day, his fifth such alien-centric movie, is by far the most grounded of the lot. Or, more accurately, the most humane, for it isn’t about whether or not alien life exists – that’s pretty much confirmed almost immediately – but how exactly humanity would react if, or even when, we find out that it does. Would we have it within ourselves to accept that there probably is life beyond the stars, or do what we usually do and overreact to the point of global and possibly interplanetary destruction? In true Spielberg fashion, that debate is transformed into a high-concept blockbuster that’s part conspiracy thriller and part empathetic study of what humanity can be capable of, one that carries a ponderous and optimistic tone which only Spielberg himself could, and does, nail.

The film, which Spielberg also wrote the story for with David Koepp transforming it into a screenplay, pretty much throws you straight into the situation: Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), a cybersecurity specialist working for shady government facility Wardex, has stolen countless hard drives along with a piece of alien technology, with the intention of publicly leaking it, and along with his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) is now on the run from his now-former boss Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) and his various agents. Meanwhile, Kansas City meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) develops some unusual new abilities, such as being able to know everything there is about a person just by looking at them, and suddenly becoming fluent in various languages, including a mysterious guttural noise she unwittingly delivers during her daily weather report. Both Margaret and Daniel’s paths soon collide, but how exactly they’re connected, in addition to how fellow Wardex whistleblower Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo) may be involved, is best left undiscovered until you actually see the movie.

Almost right away, just after a slightly jarring opening sequence set at a wrestling match – never thought I’d see that in a Steven Spielberg-directed movie – the film distinguishes itself from the filmmaker’s other alien movies with a tone that’s closer to a John Frankenheimer thriller than it is to something like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. There are certain sequences and particular shots, as captured by Spielberg’s regular cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, that feel like they’ve come straight out of The Manchurian Candidate, to where there’s often an eerie sense that there’s always someone or something of unnatural origin is lurking around our main characters as they attempt to get the one-up on Firth and his cronies (not to mention how there’s also the odd bit of mind control/manipulation here and there). Spielberg’s natural talent for maintaining suspense allows these moments to breathe while still maintaining a steady if slightly tempered pace, and much like he did with Close Encounters of the Third Kind uses it to continuously build towards a climax that provides some awe-inspiring satisfaction to those with the patience to see it all through.

Even when the extraterrestrial themes finally start to become more apparent (in fact, Disclosure Day goes a while without even bringing aliens into the conversation), Spielberg refuses to wholly sanitise the thriller aspect, as the central mystery surrounding our two leads, particularly Blunt who gives one of her most accomplished performances to date as weather lady-turned-fugitive Margaret, is compelling enough to hook you in and search for your own answers to the major questions being asked. Koepp’s script doesn’t always offer any truly definitive explanations, nor does it provide clarity or even closure regarding certain characters, but the journey in execution is still intriguing as Spielberg’s reliably strong grasp of the filmic language draws you further and further in, until you’re practically begging for the director to stop teasing and start explaining, even if to do so would undermine its emotional impact.

That sense of empathy is, ultimately, where Spielberg’s greatest strength as a filmmaker lies, and Disclosure Day manages to ground the elevated story within a deeply affection for humanity and its capability for compassion. With it comes a sense of hope, a common trait among his filmography, that one day if we actually do find out whether or not we’re alone in the universe, the human race can put its differences aside and embrace our newly-discovered neighbours as much as we would our more immediate ones. After all, as one character puts it, how could a higher spiritual being create an entire universe and have only humans be its sole inhabitants?

Spielberg seems particularly certain that there are other lifeforms in our galaxy, and whether it’s through the whimsical friendship saga of E.T. or the overwhelming curiosity of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or even the grounded hopefulness of Disclosure Day which may not be on their overall level of quality but still stands out as a solid sci-fi thriller of its own accord, he’s even more convinced that humans may have more in common with aliens than we may think.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Disclosure Day is a gripping sci-fi thriller that sets itself apart from director Steven Spielberg’s other alien-centric movies with a compelling conspiracy thriller angle as well as a resounding hopefulness surrounding humanity’s relationship with probable life beyond our planet.