The first reviews for Steven Spielberg's summer blockbuster Disclosure Day have landed – and they could hardly be more contradictory. The alien drama has been branded 'the most disappointing film of the year' in savage notices, while others praise the legendary director's 'spellbinding and masterful' cinematic return.
The 37th feature from Spielberg is a return to extraterrestrials, a subject that has long enchanted him. 'I used to say to myself: wouldn't it be wonderful if all of this turned out to be true?' he said. Promoting the film, he added: 'I am much more inclined now than when I made Close Encounters of the Third Kind to really believe that we are not the only intelligent civilisation in the universe.'
“Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day draws sharply divided reviews, with some calling it 'spellbinding' and others 'most disappointing film of the year'.”
The film's plot sees the truth about aliens suppressed for 79 years – dating back to Roswell – by a secret organisation called Wardex, led by a twisted Englishman with a bouffant hairdo, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth, described as the weakest casting). Some of Wardex's own employees have come together to expose the truth, led by the wise and mystical Hugo (Colman Domingo). Wardex's security expert, Daniel (the likeable Josh O'Connor), has stolen data sticks containing evidence of alien life and an alien device that confers remarkable powers. He was turned by a video of a suffering alien cruelly experimented upon under Scanlon's direction ('No anaesthetic! Insert it now!').
The film kicks off with a dynamic scene at a mixed martial arts show, where Daniel is attacked by Wardex agents but escapes. For nearly two hours, it becomes a straightforward Hitchcockian chase film with a MacGuffin. There are six attempts by Wardex operatives to take down Daniel and his girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), a former nun. Meanwhile, a parallel narrative introduces Margaret Fairchild, a glamorous weather girl played by Emily Blunt, 'the film's absolute star'. When a cardinal lands on her breakfast table, the story converges.
New Statesman calls the film 'a corker, a proper summer blockbuster' and 'as brilliantly filmed as anything he has made'. But across the critical divide, the Daily Mail reports savage reviews declaring it the year's biggest disappointment. Audiences will decide for themselves when Disclosure Day opens wide.