DISCLOSURE DAY (Cert. 12A) could be Steven Spielberg’s latter-day Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
The script cheekily quotes the 1977 poster’s tagline “We are not alone”. The new film similarly concerns benign aliens to whom a few people are attuned, which, it is hoped, will lead to universal acceptance.
Close Encounters owed much to Disney’s Pinocchio — hence “When You Wish Upon a Star” featuring heavily. This time, “Someday My Prince Will Come” (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) performs the same function, directing us towards Hope. Spielberg now adds Faith and Charity to the mix.
Jane (Eve Hewson), a former nun, is romantically embroiled with a cybersecurity expert, Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor). He is hunted by government authorities for a strange device that connects him with extraterrestrials.
Meanwhile, a weather forecast by Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), an aspiring television personality, breaks down into unintelligible clicks. We had earlier witnessed her newfound ability to know the secrets of hearts.
Between them, Daniel and Margaret (called Experiencers) are destined to save a planet on the brink of a Third World War — and also to save it from Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), who heads a government company determined to cover up knowledge of aliens. Proudly linking with St Clare (the patron saint of television), he can occupy two places simultaneously.
Seeking Jane’s help capturing Daniel, he argues that if people learned of these superior beings, they would turn them into deities, usurping belief in God. Jane, clutching her crucifix, demolishes such a theology. Noah then persuades her that co-operation would be like Jesus in Gethsemane accepting the Father’s will. It takes a while for Jane to refute this. Her friend Sister Maura (Elizabeth Marvel) asks why would God make such a vast universe, and yet save it only for us. Aliens aren’t the problem: we are.
Tricked out with various cinematic genres including man on the run, action/adventure, science fiction, and conspiracies, the film is challenging us about belief. Being human needs faith, hope, and charity. Disclosure Day calls it empathy. Margaret says, at one stage, that she will know where she is supposed to be only when arriving there. She must become the little child again, uncluttered by adult life’s daily grind, to enter the Kingdom of heaven. The film illustrates the notion that we don’t know what we don’t know, hinting that it may be because we’ve lost our way. Instead of protecting wealth and affluence, we need a belief that love of one another will give us enough hope, and that truth will set us free.
All very biblical, but was it a worthwhile movie? For me, it lacked the humour and warmth of Close Encounters. The extraterrestrials suffered from just having walk-on parts, and, when they did appear, there was no charisma. Janusz Kaminski’s stunning cinematography superimposes one person’s face on another, thus registering our interconnectedness and potential unity. Also, there is an “Only connect” moment referencing E.T. with an ethereal shot of Daniel and Margaret touching hands. For a film suggesting that we may be entertaining angels unawares, this is a rare manifestation of heavenly light. Disclosure Day proclaims the message that we are not alone, and, thank God, we are better off for being so.