Close Encounters of the Sentimental Kind

Another visit from the cosmos, courtesy of Steven Spielberg. One could be forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu, or perhaps just nostalgia, as the 79-year-old director once again turns his gaze skyward. The film, ‘Disclosure Day’, has all the familiar ingredients: shadowy corporations, government secrets, and the tantalizing promise that we are not alone. The question is whether these elements, reheated in 2026, can still conjure the wonder they once did.

The plot certainly throws everything at the screen. We follow a cybersecurity specialist who has pilfered the entire US government archive of alien encounters, a nefarious corporate boss who takes the hero’s girlfriend hostage, and a television weatherperson who inexplicably begins channeling extraterrestrials. All this unfolds as the United States and Russia teeter on the brink of nuclear war, a rather dramatic backdrop for a story about finding common ground.

For all its grand ambition, the film’s primary weakness is its foundation: an unwieldy screenplay from David Koepp. The script is riddled with clumsy dialogue and plot holes so glaring they feel imported from a different era. One is left to wonder at the charmingly antiquated notion that a single news report on a local channel could unite the world, rather than be instantly dismissed as AI-generated fiction or another Tuesday on the internet.

Visually, the film also fails to impress where it counts most. The alien aesthetic is disappointingly conventional, subverting no expectations and offering little new to the genre. Compounding this are some truly subpar CGI animals, a surprising misstep for a production of this scale. It seems the budget for awe-inspiring creatures was diverted elsewhere.

Yet, the project is not without its merits. The cast does heroic work with the material they are given. Josh O’Connor and Colin Firth are compelling, but it is Emily Blunt who truly shines, elevating her role beyond the script's limitations. Spielberg’s direction ensures a propulsive momentum, and a terrific train-collision sequence reminds us he can still craft an entertaining blockbuster.

The film’s core message is a plea for empathy, a quality the visiting aliens apparently consider humanity’s greatest evolutionary advantage. It’s a fine sentiment, but one that is consistently undercut by thick layers of schmaltz. When earnestness veers into outright triteness, it tests an audience's patience and emotional investment.

This culminates in a finale that feels less like a profound revelation and more like an intergalactic miscalculation. The drawn-out ending seems to have learned nothing from the widely derided conclusion of ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’. The problem isn't the existence of aliens, but the profoundly naive execution that will likely provoke more cackles than gasps of wonder. For all its big swings, ‘Disclosure Day’ is a mostly satisfying trip to the cinema, but it remains a far cry from the director's masterpieces. The truth is still out there; this film just offers a less-than-convincing map.

Written by Thorben Thiede thorben.thiede@alpineweekly.com