Cybersecurity expert-turned-whistleblower Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) is working for WARDEX (Waived Reporting, Development, and Extraction) when he steals a powerful alien device and volumes of evidence proving the exitance of aliens. Daniel plans to disclose these secrets to the entire world. WARDEX is a private organization with no government control or oversight, and the head of corporation, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), is determined to stop this. He sends his head of security, Casper Boyd (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), along with a well-armed team of soldiers to find and eliminate Daniel before he can release the information. Daniel is on the run, along with girlfriend Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson), who has been involuntarily swept into the conspiracy. Daniel is being aided remotely by fellow former WARDEX employee Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), who has a larger plan for the stolen data and device. However, Scanlon has a device similar to the one that Daniel stole, and is able to harness its powers to help him locate and control those close to Daniel.

Meanwhile, Kansas City TV meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) is at the apartment she shares with musician boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell). She is eager to move to a larger market to get a job as a news anchor. Jackson is supportive, but doesn’t really want to move—he’s happy where they are now, and how his own career is starting to take off. Margaret is making breakfast when she sees a cardinal fly into their kitchen. Without even realizing it, she suddenly starts speaking Russian, leaving Jackson confused. It turns out this will be just the first in a series of bizarre events that day. Margaret soon discovers she has the ability to read other people’s thoughts, and starts randomly speaking additional languages—including an extraterrestrial language on-air. When a clip of this goes viral, it attracts the attention of those at WARDEX, who start hunting her as well.

Why is this happening to Margaret?! In addition to her strange new abilities, she has also been getting a strong sense that she needs to find someone named Daniel Kellner. She doesn’t know who this is, but knows that he’s in trouble and needs her help. And so Margaret sets out to find and rescue Daniel from those trying to hunt him down, utilizing her newfound powers to assist him in his disclosure mission. long the way she is forced to confront the traumatic events of her childhood, and discovers that she has been part of a larger plan that’s been at play for decades.

Disclosure Day is yet another alien-themed film from acclaimed director Steven Spielberg, who also wrote the original story upon which the screenplay was based. The film sets up some interesting characters and concepts. At the core of the story are these two seemingly-average people who for some reason have been chosen to carry out the mission of disclosing the facts about aliens on Earth to the world. The film is a blend of humor and drama, and ultimately becomes an exciting action-packed story as Scanlon and his men hunt down Daniel and Margaret and and try to stop them.

While the film uses a lot of common alien encounter reports as the basis for its “facts”, it also creates this unique alien device that is utilized in a really clever way by Scanlon to control people remotely. This creates this really interesting and visually-stunning storytelling element. There is also some other really creative camera work, such as the way the camera often weaves through the action sequences, which can get quite intense and exciting. The cast all deliver really strong performances. Blunt has a particularly challenging role that requires her to speak various languages, deliver some really humorous moments in a very straight manor, and give a really emotional breakdown. She and Josh O’Connor have great chemistry once their characters finally do cross paths.

The film had a lot of promise, but one major place were the film suffers is in some of the really stupid and lazy writing. Characters sometimes do the stupidest things that defy logic. For example, when Daniel sees about two dozen armed guys making their way towards his safehouse, he decides to “sneak” up to steal one of their cars by hiding behind a wooden fence—that is pretty much comprised of 3 horizonal logs with lots of open space between them. Later in that same sequence, he and his partner can be seen hiding behind a large rock just 5 feet from these men, and after they create a diversion, they just casually walk away—like these men wouldn’t be trained to do a thorough search of the area rather than just fall for the diversion. The film’s pacing is also a bit off. After spending over two hours building tension and setting things in place, the film seems to just abruptly stop leaving the audience with this ambiguous and seemingly-purposeless ending. It felt like if anything this ending should have been the start of the film, exploring what follows.

Disclosure Day marks the 30th film that Steven Spielberg has collaborated on with composer John Williams. While I don’t think the score is going to have the memorable staying power of some of William’s other iconic film pieces, it does feel unique and works well with the film, really ramping up during some of the action sequences.

Universal has released Disclosure Day on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital, and a Limited Edition 4K SteelBook release is scheduled for October 6. We were sent the Blu-ray release for review, which looks and sounds excellent. The picture looks crisp and clear, with a solid level of detail throughout. There are some really creative shots that flow through and around the action, and some “archival” shots do an excellent job of recreating the era they are set in. Though I did have some flashbacks to flashbacks to the Star Trek reboot whenever there were some scenes with excessive lens flares. The audio track provides clear dialogue and makes excellent use of the stereo and surround channels. This is particularly noticeable during the action-packed chase and shootout scenes, where the cacophony really fills the room. Williams’ score also sounds great.

The Blu-ray release contains just a single Blu-ray disc, packed in a standard HD keepcase, covered with a carboard slipcover with an embossed title. There are also redemption instructions for an HD digital copy of the film. The disc contains an extensive 54-minute making-of featurette as well as a 4-minute piece on longtime collaborators John Williams and Steven Spielberg.

What’s Included:

Film: (2:25:33)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English DVS (Descriptive Video Service), Spanish 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus, French 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital (code may not be valid after 9/30/2027):

• HD Digital Copy (Movies Anywhere compatible)

Extras:
Play All, or select from:

• Encountering the Unknown: Inside Disclosure Day (54:03)
  The cast and crew discuss how the film started with a 50-page story by Steven Spielberg, what attracted the actors to the project, utilizing common UAP stories and reports but also making the story original, the loss of longtime collaborator Adam Somner, the characters and story, creating the alien language, the sets, the costumes, the device prop, filming the car chases, building and crashing the farmhouse, the train sequence, the childhood bedroom sequence, the warehouse, making the TV station feel authentic, creating the aliens and archival footage, and more. Includes storyboard artwork, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director/producer/story by Steven Spielberg, producer Kristie Macosko Krieger, screenwriter David Koepp, production designer Adam Stockhausen, executive producer Chris Brigham, assistant costume designer Brian Hemesath, costume designer Paul Tazewell, property master Joel Weaver, stunt double Logan Holladay (“Daniel”), stunt coordinator Brian Machleit. 2nd assistant director Lisa Cossrow, production assistant Brooke Goshtigian, art director Deborah Wheatley, stunt coordinator Andy Gill, editor Sarah Broshar, visual effects supervisor Matthew Butler, visual effects producer Lauren Ritchie, newsroom consultant Jackie Amador, Brian Zeitchick (“Rock Center Tech Director”), David Auerbach (“Rock Center News Producer”), NBC News Tech Manager Kit Williams, puppeteers Alan Scott & Savannah Suderman, and stars Emily Blunt (“Margaret Fairchild”), Josh O’Connor (“Dr. Daniel Kellner”), Colman Domingo (“Hugo Wakefield”), Colin Firth (“Noah Scanlon”), Eve Hewson (“Jane Blankenship”), Wyatt Russell (“Jackson”), Tommy Martinez (“Santiago”) & Henry Lloyd-Hughes (“Casper Boyd”).
• Spielberg and Williams: A Legendary Collaboration (4:09)
  Director Steven Spielberg and Composer John Williams talk about working together for the past 52-years, with Disclosure Day being their 30th film together. Includes behind-the-scenes footage of the orchestra, plus additional interviews with editor Sarah Broshar & producer Kristie Macosko Krieger.

Final Thoughts:

Disclosure Day is certainly not Spielberg’s best alien-related project, but does have some positive elements. It features a strong and talented cast, and puts the viewer into the middle of the action from the start. The film finds a nice blend of action, humor and drama, and has some beautifully composed scenes. However, some of the writing is a bit lazy and sloppy, and the film talks a long time to build to a moment before ending abruptly without any real resolution or exploration of the aftermath of the events it spent over 2 hours building to. For fans of the film, Universal’s Blu-ray release looks and sounds excellent, and contains a great, extensive 54-minute making of featurette. I still think the film is worth a look, but with tempered expectations.