Disclosure Day (2026) Review

https://youtu.be/SCYT8vb2siQ?is=wkMvh2PPY-VAO-i9

“Listen”

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

We know there will always be a handful of days that will change our lives. One day for sure will be our Disclosure Day.


PLOT


The 2026 film shows Planet Earth in the midst of a nuclear war. The story begins with cybersecurity specialist Daniel Kellner to have stolen classified material from Wardex Corporation. He rendezvouses with the company’s head Noah Scanlon in exchange for his girlfriend Jane Blankenship but he is able to escape with her and what he stole when threatening to use an unnamed device against him. For the time being, the couple hides out at Jane’s former convent. Elsewhere, meteorologist Margaret Fairchild starts having some sort of episode on her way to work because after encountering a cardinal, she starts intuiting people’s memories and speaking languages she’s never practiced before until speaking an unknown language on air. Wardex sees the footage of this incident and would try to capture until she escapes after her hospital examination. Daniel does explain to Jane that what he took from Wardex is not just a similar device, but a file of documents dubbed the ‘Archive’ that confirms extraterrestrials have existed all the way back since the ‘47 Roswell incident, and the aliens are currently being experimented on to reverse engineer their technology. His goal alongside another defected member of Wardex named Hugo Wakefield is to reveal the Archive to the public. When discovering Margaret’s video, he seems to understand her language when no one else can and Scanlon would use one of the devices to not only force Jane to attack him, but also track them both down to a motel. Jane is able to escape with Daniel’s spare device while he gets captured. Margaret, having abandoned her boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell), finds him and uses her empathic abilities to convince Wardex long enough to let them both go. Scanlon still sends his head of security Casper Boyd to get them back, but they hop onto a freight train because he can cause them to crash. The two would then find Hugo who has been able to lead a team to reconstruct Margaret’s childhood home, hoping to unlock suppressed memories of hers. As she looks around, she remembers at the age of 10 where she and Daniel being abducted by aliens to give them their complimentary powers and disguise themselves as animals to anonymously observe humanity. The whole team evades Scanlon long enough to teach the same news station Margaret works in order to disclose the Archive. Scanlon catches up again tries to shut down the power in order to prevent this from happening, but ultimately surrenders when Jane shows up and gives the other device to Margaret for the power to be restored. Once Daniel gives the Archive to the station crew to broadcast all footage around the world, at least one anchorwoman is given the task to narrate what is shown as the world sees everything with her. The disclosure of extraterrestrials stops the war and Hugo would unveil an elderly alien that he secretly freed from Wardex. The alien would whisper to Daniel to relay a message to Margaret and the film would end with her telling all viewers to listen before she repeats what she was told.


THOUGHTS


What do you think of when you hear the name Steven Spielberg? It is the fact he established the pinnacle of movies becoming blockbusters with Jaws and has set the bar ever since. Every movie he’s directed/produced has always been a pleasure and it’s no exception here in a sci fi film very different from what he’s done before, having cowritten the script with David Koepp. You do get your signature checkmarks anyway when it comes to a Spielberg production. Compelling John Williams score? Check. Incredible cinematography by Janusz Kaminski? You’re set. Moments like the train chase, the invisible house, or the childhood flashback just gave the most chills before the official disclosure actually happens speaking of said climax, I got to give a shoutout to actress Courtney Grace who gave the most realistic performance of how it would feel to get an official ufo disclosure going from confused to stunned to content. This isn’t about if aliens are friends like ET or foe like War of the Worlds because in reality, it’s more about general empathy. I mean you know it’s a completely different experience when it opens with a pro wrestling match and that was a whole separate surprise for me as a wrestling fan. The empathy to know there’s life outside our planet is what reflects the fact that we need to face our realities one by one in order to be free of what scares you. If you can’t do that, then you’ll always live scared. With such a strong ensemble, the message couldn’t be any more clear. Colin Firth represents the latter as Noah Scanlon because he wants to be a leader who wants to protect the world from a complex secret, but the decision to allow experimentation go on once he was in charge is where he’s in the wrong. With his wife recently passing away, he was at the brink of becoming emotionless like his predecessors to desperately keep things as is. Then when you have a loyal yet cold follower like Boyd the way Henry Lloyd Hughes portrays him, he felt untouchable until being rebelled upon. When multitasking, Colman Domingo shows Hugo to be the exact opposite because he’s more cynical of what’s going on and does his best to pass on much needed nurture in order to be on the same page with the absolute. So for those who had the literal to do just that, everything they’ve been through became worth it. Josh O’Connor was excellent as Daniel because his empathy made him fierce. Once he figured out he was on the wrong side after all he had seen, he knew he couldn’t belong, thus being the most central to defect with Hugo. You can say Jane is his partner because Eve Hewson makes her a polar opposite that has based her knowledge off of religion than facts. In reality, Margaret is his soulmate because Emily Blunt makes her sensational in being the one who is restless due to her vulnerability she couldn’t even fathom until it slowly unlocked. Once she was back with Daniel however, she was finally at zen again and he & Hugo were able to guide her back to what she was meant to do, that is be the messenger. Jane is just as beneficial to the disclosure because her giving the last device was her own growth to expand her horizons when it comes to embracing knowledge. At that point, Noah had to give up because he accepting killing everyone wouldn’t resolve anything either. In the climax, I like the aspect how it’s more mesmerizing than epic when browsing through the Archive and seeing the elderly alien because apart from amazing visual effects you expect in the 21st century, they’re the coffin’s last nail to show the power of listening with your eyes more than your ears. If Margaret & Daniel have been able to listen for so long, I hope everyone else can pull off the same feat. This movie is definitely quite fascinating, but even great stuff like this have questionable moments. Like it is one thing for Boyd to actually attend the pro wrestling show to begin the handoff when he didn’t really have to, but Scanlon definitely could’ve told his security to not shoot Daniel way before they got there. He also could’ve told his henchmen to alert security and be careful in chasing them if he knew he was gonna try possessing Jane to kill Daniel. Not only does he take so long to use the device to talk to Hugo in what he’s doing, but doesn’t even monitor the convent just for the chance to catch Jane again. And I don’t know about you guys, but that toast looks far from being toasted within the 40 seconds it was in the toaster. Moving on, how the hell had no one before Daniel & Hugo had ever tried disclosing the truth? It doesn’t feel implied like anyone got killed and I can believe leaders before Scanlon would do that, but it wouldn’t hurt getting any kind of confirmation about it. It’s even a bit ridiculous no one else of the security noticed Daniel behind them as he was out in the open going back to the abandoned house to get Jane back again. They’re above a small hill, so they should’ve seen him between the trees before he ducked. It even feels worse than Margaret is still in after using her powers to know the code, but the guard at the gate doesn’t realize she’s the one who spoke alien on the news. If you can still ignore these flaws however, you can still identify Disclosure Day as another Spielberg gem that succeeds in its thought provoking premise becoming just as eventful as the past. If you love ufo movies, see this now.