Spielberg alien movie takes place in Kansas City. But is the storyline worth a trip to the theater?

Disclosure Day

• Directed by: Steven Spielberg
• Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth
• Sci-Fi/Thriller | PG-13 | 2 hr 25 min
• 2 stars

By Reed Ripley

Steven Spielberg believes in aliens. Not in an abstract, “the universe is so vast” way, but in a “they’re among us” way. That was clearly the motivation behind Spielberg’s latest, Disclosure Day, a true-blue alien conspiracy manifesto not-so-subtly disguised as your friendly neighborhood science fiction blockbuster. I suppose Spielberg’s genuine passion for exposing the perceived existence of extra-terrestrial life on Earth is as good a reason to make a film as any. But Disclosure Day would have worked a lot better if it cared more about telling a good story rather than trying to convince everyone that aliens are real, and aliens are good. 

This isn’t a commentary on the merits of Spielberg’s closely held beliefs, and in fact, those very beliefs have directly led to some of Spielberg’s greatest films. It started with the massive twin hits of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and he circled back to alien life a couple decades later with War of the Worlds (2005) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008, admittedly not in the same class as the prior three), which is entirely premised on Indy’s search for a Roswell alien artifact. Now, another couple decades later, we have Disclosure Day.

Disclosure Day follows the efforts of whistleblower Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) and Kansas City-based meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) as they attempt to disclose to the world the existence of alien kind and their mistreatment at the hands of the government and private tech, dating to the Roswell incident in 1947. The film imagines that Roswell was very real, and that aliens have in fact been on Earth ever since, studied and vivisected in the name of science and progress.

Disclosure Day differs dramatically from those other films in that it complete throws out any feeling of fantasy or fiction. Obviously, it’s still a science fiction movie, but it doesn’t want to feel like one. This isn’t some extraordinary, quasi-magical event happening to ordinary people—this could happen today, right now, and we could all be a part of it. That’s fine, but Spielberg’s prior alien flicks worked because they told tight, engaging human stories with crazy events happening around those central humans. Disclosure Day, in contrast, seems actively disinterested in its human characters except when those humans are delivering long, preachy speeches about religion, belief in general, society’s right to know the supposed truth about alien life, or some other Spielberg thesis statement that doesn’t really serve the story other than by flashing a big red light on what Spielberg wants taken away.

Those stop down moments feel especially blunt and forced when the rest of the story and its tone is so incredibly uneven. The film’s dealing with some incredibly heavy topics—obviously extraterrestrial life, but also the existence of God and the active ramp up of what the film directly calls World War III, constantly in the background but never actually addressed—but it also wants to be fun and goofy at times. With all that seriousness going on, it’s hard to laugh, and honestly, the funniest parts are unintentional, caused by tonal whiplash and frankly bizarre bits of character work and line delivery. 

There’s enough polish on Disclosure Day to keep it from being a complete disaster—there are some really cool technical things going on, as Spielberg is wont to do. However, all the slick camera work and set piece execution in the world can’t save a distracted and unfocused story. Right down to the very last scene, Disclosure Day truly feels like a direct message from Spielberg to the intelligent life that he wholeheartedly believes lives on Earth at this very moment. “Trust me, wise ones, if you would only reveal yourselves to us, then the human race will put aside their differences and join you on your path to something greater.” Maybe it’s age and increased cynicism, maybe the world has changed drastically since the expansive night sky widened a young Spielberg’s eyes and imagination, and maybe it’s a little of both, but that message comes off as naïve. When the entire film is based on that idea, that’s tough.

Setting aside the substance, though, it’s undeniably cool to see Kansas City featured so prominently in a Steven Spielberg blockbuster. About 80 percent of the movie happens in Kansas City and the surrounding area, and for us Kansas Citians, that’s reason enough to go see it. In fact, the production actually reached out to the Telegraph early last year about providing newspapers as props, and if you look closely, you may spot a paper copy or two. I didn’t see them myself, but if you do go see the movie, keep a close eye out, and let us know if you spot the paper.

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