Steven Spielberg has said his latest film, Disclosure Day, is ‘the summation of my life in science fiction’, which began with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and ends here. (He is now 79.) I adored Close Encounters when it first came out in 1977 and still do – that final scene must be one of the greatest final scenes in cinema, greater even than The Terminator. But Disclosure Day is not its match, not nearly. What we have here instead is a forgettable action film with the bones of your average conspiracy thriller. There may or may not be life on other planets, but this poor Earthling felt the life drain from her at around ten minutes in.
This poor Earthling felt the life drain from her at around ten minutes in
The title comes from ufologists, who believe that there will come a day when governments worldwide will stop covering up and release everything they know about UFOs, extraterrestrials and alien technology. Given that our governments seems incapable of keeping secrets or containing leaks – Mandelson would have surely told Epstein, at the very least – I find such a cover-up difficult to buy but let’s show willing. There are two main protagonists. One is Daniel (Josh O’Connor), a cyber-tech expert who, from the off, is on the run from whoever it is who wants whatever it is in his backpack. He is accompanied by his plucky girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), who was once a novice nun, and is conveniently able to give us the religious element. If you show people aliens exist, what will that mean for people’s faith in God? (Don’t panic… God is safe in Spielberg’s hands.)
