Disclosure Day (2026) – Film Review
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth
Certificate 12A
By Roger Crow
If you had to distil the early life of Steven Spielberg, it would involve a love of UFOs, working on film and TV sets, and soaking up the music of John Williams and countless directors like David Lean and Alfred Hitchcock. And all of that has percolated into his latest ‘masterpiece’.
For the past year, there has been so much buzz surrounding his mystery sci-fi thriller, that when the title and trailer were finally released a few months ago, the Internet theories went into meltdown. Was it a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a film that changed my life 48 years ago? How about a sequel to ET, that 1982 tearjerker? Well, I’ll not reveal anything here, but fans of both will find a lot to love.
It’s also one of the most divisive films of the year because of certain elements. ‘The animals look fake’, moan some critics, and yes, they do, but that’s kind of the point. One internet critic said that if M Night Shyamalan had his name on this movie, it would have been slated. With Spielberg covering similar ground to MNS’s 2002 offering Signs, it does feel a bit old hat. There’s a fabulous chase reminiscent of Close Encounters; a train incident, which you can almost see a mile off, and while it does feel predictable, armed with a John Williams score, Spielberg is still the maestro of action scenes, even if they do feel familiar.
“Sense of déjà vu”
And while all of the cast are great, including a cast-against-type Colin Firth as the bad guy, and Josh O’Connor as the generic hero, this is Emily Blunt’s film as much as it is Steven’s. She shines like a supernova as the TV weatherwoman with dreams of being a news anchor, moving effortlessly into different languages, and empathising with almost everyone she meets. Because the secret ingredient here is empathy as not so much a weapon but a shield
And in an age where there’s hardly any empathy with certain world leaders, Spielberg’s message is obvious. The opening scene set at a wrestling match with red baseball-hatted onlookers may as well have been shot yesterday. There are a few moments when the movie jumps the shark, and the MacGuffin is fun, but despite that nagging sense of déjà vu, when Spielberg finally delivers that third act, I’m fighting back the tears. You may leave the theatre laughing or stony faced; each to their own. I was taken back to being 10-years-old and watching Close Encounters for the first time, benignly cursing Williams, the greatest movie composer of my lifetime, who, even in retirement, is working his magic once more.
“Top-tier”
It’s not all great. Spielberg’s regular cinematographer Janusz Kaminski’s washed out visuals annoyed me when he and Steven worked on Minority Report in 2002, and not much has changed since. But this is still top-tier entertainment from masters of the genre. Steven should have teamed up with Emily the minute she made The Devil Wears Prada as they are a perfect team. Co-star Colman Domingo is terrific, and it’s good to see Bono’s daughter Eve Hewson holding her own in support.
The movie is almost two and a half hours, and not for a minute did I feel the need to look at the time. It’s such a well-crafted chunk of entertainment which throws you in the deep end straight away and rarely lets up until that third act.
Whether you love or hate it depends on how willing you are to suspend your disbelief. Ignore the critics and make up your own mind by seeing it on a huge screen with great sound. As ever, when it’s on TV in a few weeks or months, the impact will be reduced by 80 per cent and you’ll have missed a treat.
Adopted Yorkshireman Roger Crow developed a passion for film and TV in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been a published film and TV reviewer since the 1990s; a world travel and restaurant critic since the noughties, and for the past decade has assessed the pros and cons of live gigs and theatre productions around the UK. His ideal day would involve reviewing a performance of Bat Out of Hell, followed by a Pad Thai while being serenaded by Texas on a cruise around Europe.
crowsfeat.com; nostalgiahhh film podcast
