Disclosure Day - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

STEVEN Spielberg’s Disclosure Day works on two levels: as a barnstorming cinematic spectacle that showcases the director at his best, and as the type of film the world needs right now.

As the former, it’s a thrilling ride that’s part chase movie, part conspiracy theory thriller and part ET meets Close Encounters of the distinctly Spielberg-ian kind.

As the latter, it shows the importance of communication, of acceptance and - above all - empathy. It’s a film that endorses unity, truth, tolerance and understanding while painting the villains of the piece as those who would spread fear, withhold truth and commit human rights violations.

How far audiences will want to journey down the latter path is up to them. Spielberg doesn’t force feed the point. But at a time when the world is increasingly being torn apart by a lack of empathy and the spread of misinformation, Disclosure Day’s arrival would seem to hold particular resonance.

The film pretty much hits the ground running as co-lead Josh O’Connor, a cybersecurity specialist named Daniel Kellner, bluffs his way out of a stand-off with shadowy agents from an organisation led by Colin Firth’s chief villain, in order to save his girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), a former novitiate nun, and keep a grip on the piece of alien technology that could blow the lid on one of the biggest conspiracies of all-time.

Kellner and Jane spend the rest of the movie attempting to keep one step ahead of Firth, allowing Spielberg to stage some thrilling action sequences.

But simultaneously, there’s Emily Blunt’s Margaret Fairchild, a local TV weather presenter based on Kansas City, who suddenly starts exhibiting strange behaviour (from being able to speak Korean to having her voice turn into a series of clicks while on TV) after a weird encounter with a bird in her apartment.

Both Kellner and Fairchild are guided by fellow whistleblower Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo) who, while on the phone to both to coordinate their manoeuvres and guide them towards each other, appears to be building something on a huge sound stage.

As with all good conspiracy thrillers, there are plenty of mysteries to be solved and twists in store, allowing characters to confront the truths they’re involved in revealing, while also debating the moral and ethical repercussions at stake.

And it’s during these quieter moments that Spielberg really allows his characters to grow while exploring the issues at play in greater depth. A conversation about empathy that unfolds between Jane’s conflicted ex-nun and Elizabeth Marvel’s caring former superior is filled with insight, compassion and warmth and holds the key to where the film’s heart really lies.

But David Koepp’s script also takes other moments to explore questions of faith, man’s place in the universe and his capacity for cruelty and war (it’s no coincidence that events also unfold while the world is on the brink of global conflict). As well as the role of the natural world in our existence and survival.

There’s an emotional depth here that gives rise to a surprisingly powerful and moving climax.

Yet Spielberg is no stranger to this in his filmmaking, having regularly proven himself able to juggle exhilarating spectacle with heartfelt introspection. And Disclosure Day does share plenty in common with the director’s favourite themes: including a career-long fascination with aliens (that further includes War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones & The Crystal Skull) as well as his fondness for the innocence of childhood and how anything that corrupts it can have life-lasting effects (see The Fablemans, especially, or ET, AI, Hook and Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade).

Here, there’s a connection between the characters of Blunt and O’Connor that stems from their childhoods.

This underlying emotional element also enables the cast to shine, with both O’Connor and Blunt emerging as genuinely engaging heroes - thoughtful, vulnerable yet plucky in the way that all good Spielberg everyday heroes are. Blunt, in particular, has a lot to convey and enjoys the biggest arc; her journey - more than any other - helping to deliver the film’s emotive climax.

But there’s strong work, too, from Domingo (as wise as he is compassionate), Firth (nicely sinister when he needs to be, yet nuanced enough to offer a glimpse of the man he probably could have been), and Hewson, especially during moments where she feels either manipulated or tested by her moral code.

In that regard, Spielberg finds a rather ingenious way of having Firth’s villain track his prey and even interact with them virtually (giving rise to at least one extremely tense exchange with Hewson and a couple of intellectual ones with Colman), lending the film a consistently tense energy.

And when it comes to the action, there’s also plenty to admire, with a car chase escape from an abandoned farmhouse supremely well orchestrated and an incident involving another vehicle and a train recalling the high-stakes breathless tension of other Spielberg moments such as the shattering windscreen glass in The Lost World or some of the chase sequences in Minority Report.

At two and a half hours, there’s never a dull moment or something to intrigue. While the finale goes all out to both shock and engage emotionally.

At almost 80 years young, Spielberg has lost none of his ability to entertain. Disclosure Day is another terrific entry on a CV already littered with classics.

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 2hrs 25mins