Spielberg returns to extraterrestrials with Disclosure Day. From Firelight in 1964 to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., and War of the Worlds, he has kept looking to the sky with undiminished fascination. This conspiracy thriller, centered on the revelation of the extraterrestrial secret, often impresses but struggles to bring all its ambitions together.
In an unevenly served cast, Emily Blunt carries the film, while Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth, and Eve Hewson are more or less well written. The film touches on faith, childhood, and theological vertigo, but often remains at the level of suggestion.
At 2 hours and 25 minutes, Disclosure Day feels stretched and ultimately frustrating: strong ideas, fragments of great cinema, but an unfinished work.