Whether it’s an intimate family drama or a big-budget musical, it is always an event when Steven Spielberg makes a movie. Although he may not be the box-office machine that he once was, each Spielberg movie stirs up some kind of conversation, with his last two films scoring Best Picture and Best Director nominations at the Academy Awards. While Disclosure Day may not be the Oscar contender like his past two films, it is bound to be another conversation starter.

The film finds Spielberg traveling back to his sci-fi roots. It follows an ex-Cybersecurity specialist, Daniel Kellner, played by Josh O’Connor, who stole secrets from his old government job that prove the existence of extraterrestrial life on Earth. Tangled in Kellner’s schemes is television meteorologist Margaret Fairchild, played by Emily Blunt, whose mysterious past and psychic abilities tie her to some of Earth’s greatest questions. Hot on their tails is Kellner’s old boss, Noah Scanlon(Colin Firth), who hopes to prevent Kellner from spreading the truth of alien life. With big action sequences and deep in thematic subtext, Disclosure Day finds Spielberg back in his wheelhouse.

Spielberg’s recent films have had a fantastical look. Still maintaining bits of film grain, Spielberg has favored a more polished, lavish look to evoke a sense of magic and wonder, which works exceedingly well for Disclosure Day. DP Janusz Kamiński beautifully mends the line between reality and fiction, allowing the viewer to draw parallels between real-life scenarios and the imaginative world. With stunning close-ups and dynamic camera movement, Kamiński crafts one of the best-looking movies of 2026 thus far, crafting countless beautiful images that tell a story through the stillness.

Having someone like Emily Blunt as the lead will always boost a film’s quality, but Blunt does some uncanny work in Disclosure Day. From panic attacks to accent work, Blunt is asked to do a lot as an actress, and she performs it all as if it were effortless. Constantly empathetic while conveying sounds that I did not know were possible to come out of the human mouth, Blunt puts out career-best work as Margaret Fairchild. Josh O’Connor, although given a less showy role, balances Blunt’s bizarreness perfectly, portraying a drive for the truth in an extremely compelling manner. The rest of the ensemble does a solid enough job, but Colin Firth struggles the most as he jumps between a quiet, loner boss to a cliche, overbearing tech CEO, and never committing to either of them.

Disclosure Day plays like prior Spielberg films, following characters as they attempt to reveal the truth about the world, with big corporations trying to stop them, but what makes this film stand out is its perspective on religion, humanity, and empathy. Writer David Koepp attempts to explore the importance of human connection through discovery and truth, but the film fails to tie these ideas together cohesively. While there is a clear attempt to elicit emotions from the viewer, the themes feel like they overlap rather than flow into one another. Truth and empathy are two entirely different ideas, and Koepp can’t quite grasp that. The film also lays its ideas plainly before the audience, leaving little room for them to interpret it organically, making for a far more frustrating experience than Spielberg’s other works.

There are a slew of excellently crafted chase scenes, with a train set piece in particular standing out for its stellar sound design, but the scenes lack a true rhythm to sustain the film’s pace. From misplaced humor to its elongated runtime, the film struggled with cohesion in more than just its screenplay. Although the editing and blocking make for an always engaging sequence, the score brings the pace to a striking halt. Crescendoing at the wrong times and muting at the right ones, the music should’ve been a driving force for the film, but instead, it made that already frustrating film even more so. By itself, John Williams’ music is good enough, but its implementation in the film was confounding.

Spielberg is an absolute master of his craft, but even the greats have their misses, and sadly, one of those is Disclosure Day. Excellent performances and production values may make it far from a poor film, but an overstuffed and chaotic screenplay left much more to be desired. On paper, the movie raises many interesting ideas about life and our surrounding world, but the overall product is more of a mishmash of internal thoughts than the cinematic joys we are used to seeing from Spielberg. He still has the filmmaking juice, but didn’t hit nearly as hard as it should’ve.

Disclosure Day is now playing in theaters nationwide.

Rating: 5/10

Oscar Prospects:

Best Original Score