Nearly five decades ago, it was a close encounter with a UFO that resonated with audiences (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977). Five years on, it was all about helping a friendly alien return home (ET: the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982). Next, an alien invasion threatened the future of humanity (War of the Worlds, 2005). And now director Steven Spielberg (who wrote this with David Koepp – Jurassic Park) is at it again, this time with humans treating aliens abominably.
The conceit is that the government, in cahoots with a non-government agency named WARDEX, has hidden the truth. WARDEX, which stands for Waived Reporting, Development and Extraction, is a shadowy body. It safeguards evidence about alien visitation, dating back to the Roswell incident of 1947. That was when a rancher found debris near Roswell in New Mexico. It sparked UFO conspiracy theories and allegations the US military had recovered a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft.
The concept behind Disclosure Day is that there has been no shortage of footage collected about many such encounters with aliens – all of it kept under wraps. A cybersecurity expert named Dr Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) has come across this material and threatens to expose it. But the autocratic head of WARDEX, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), will do all in his power to prevent that from happening. He believes the knowledge his agency protects would destabilise human civilisation, should it be made public. Critically, the footage exposes ugly experimentation conducted on aliens.
Dr Kellner has something in common with a woman he doesn’t know, Kansas City weather presenter Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt). Fairchild, who is looking to further her career, suddenly develops intuitive powers she has never had before. She can also speak perfectly in other languages and has a heightened sense of danger about WARDEX. Dr Kellner, who once did prison time for hacking, but is seen as a good guy, connects with Fairchild. Both of them have trouble explaining their cerebral connection to their respective partners. In Dr Kellner’s case, it is a former nun named Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson), while for Fairchild it is befuddled muso Jackson (Wyatt Russell).
The man guiding Dr Kellner and Fairchild to enlightenment is a former WARDEX employee, Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo). He is the one out to disclose all the agency’s secrets, but to do so he must first help the pair learn hidden truths about themselves. Confused by all these relationships? That is perfectly understandable. Suffice to say there are two sides to the ideological divide that Disclosure Day straddles. It is all about whether mankind deserves the truth and can handle the fallout that will inevitably come from the revelations.
It is a thriller because WARDEX has a hunt them down at any cost mentality, resulting in car chases and gunfire. There is one particularly nerve-jangling scene involving Dr Kellner, Fairchild and two fast moving trains. Further leaps of faith involve the head of WARDEX infiltrating the minds of others. Is it all mumbo jumbo or a step towards enlightenment? I suppose that comes down to whether you are a true believer or not. Suffice to say, there is a lot of running around to get to the climactic finale and the movie takes its sweet time to get there (nearly two and a half hours).
There is no shortage of earnestness about the portrayal of the respective leads, starting with Josh O’Connor and Emily Blunt. Of course, they are up for playing the high stakes game that their characters have been caught up in. Somehow, they manage to imbue the good doctor and the weather presenter with credibility. A bearded Colin Firth brings arrogance and determination to the WARDEX head, while Colman Domingo does a lot of figurative hand holding as Hugo Wakefield. It is the latter who provides the voice of calm.
The production values are strong throughout, while the aliens in the found footage come in a shape with which we are familiar. With fear and empathy as its cornerstones, I found Disclosure Day engaging, if a tad long. Rated M, it scores an 8 out of 10.
Alex First
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Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.