Disclosure Day disappoints in an out-of-this-world way

Full transparency, Disclosure Day will be a disappointment for some moviegoers this month. The Universal Pictures project, created and directed by the award-winning filmmaker Steven Allan Spielberg, tries hard to endear itself to his longtime fanbase. The man who brought the world such science fiction classics as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial seems to be obsessed with unidentified flying objects. It is now time to let that flying saucer land and move on to something new.

Steven spent two months writing the Disclosure story, then handed it off to collaborator David Koepp for the screenplay. The storyline centers around the possibility of extraterrestrial life and an organization called the Wardex Corporation attempting a cover-up at all costs.

A man named Daniel Kellner has evidence and is running from Wardex agents with his girlfriend. Meanwhile, in Kansas City, a weather reporter named Margaret Fairchild discovers she has special abilities, which lead to adventures where she must confront her past and expose the truth.

English actress Emily Blunt does the heavy lifting as Fairchild and she was cast, possibly because of her linguistic skills, although these fade in and out depending on the situation.

Multiple stories bounce back and forth, between another English performer, Josh O'Connor, as Kellner and his nun-on-the-run girlfriend Jane Blankenship, played by Irish actress Eve Hewson.

This international cast seems confused about their motivations at times, including English fellow Colin Firth as the evil Noah Scanlon.

Adding in Colman Domingo as Hugo Wakefield doesn't save the day as expected and Disclosure Day drags on for 145 minutes.

The plot takes its time rolling out as Spielberg attempts to build characters over the first hour. Fully developed personalities have been Steven's weakness in the past, but special effects have covered his Achilles heel. There are not enough fireworks in the Day to give him a pass and while this project would have worked on an Amazing Stories television show, there's no need to see it on the big screen.

Disclosure teases the audience with aliens and unexpected antics, but in the end, there's no payoff and Spielberg's magic is wasted. Sci-fi diehards may enjoy the premise, but others may feel probed and left in the desert dying of thirst.

The D Files are released to the public on June 12, 2026, in theaters everywhere.