Review of Disclosure Day

Spielberg Channeling Shyamalan

Why would Spielberg make a Shyamalan movie? That’s what I consider his latest, Disclosure Day. He’s made a variety of alien flicks in the past, Close Encounters and E. T in particular. This film felt more in line with Signs. Shyamalan is famous for his twists, but also for the way characters in his films suddenly morph into unexplainable psychopaths.

There were times I wondered, “what am I watching?.” Elements of science fiction, but plotted and shot like a drama, but somehow high-octane, like something orchestrated by Michael Bay. If Spielberg wanted to make a Shyamalan movie, why not go the route of Split or the Sixth Sense? For me, Disclosure Day was an epic-level cringe on the level of  The Happening or Old. Unintentional comedy, and you leave the theater with a sour taste. You might’ve just wasted two hours on a flimsy, egregious affront to storytelling. I suppose you could argue that this was better than After Earth and The Last Air Bending, in that it was vaguely watchable, but Disclosure Day was still one of his worst. 

The movie is about two people, “touched by aliens” and tasked with revealing the existence of extraterrestrials by broadcasting the stolen evidence to the world over cable television. Taking place before AI deep-fakes would render such footage unbelievable, but wait a second, it seems to take place in the present day, and in fact, it does. The Internet exists, and cell phones, and plenty of technology we don’t have today. So why is any footage convincing?

Why couldn’t the sometimes god-like aliens do this themselves? Especially with their mind-control technology. The aliens that can travel intergalactically, rewire human minds to be telepaths and can literally bend time and space— but don’t forget, they crash-landed on Earth. Their unspecified purpose seems to be to save humanity from their foibles, from their apocalyptic hubris. If you’re getting New Age vibes, then you’re on the right track. Spielberg may not publicly acknowledge that he is a New Ager, but I think even a child would come away from the film realizing that the director believes in intelligent aliens. 

The characters are forgettable, to say the least. A paper-thin backstory and flimsy setup serve to bookend the action set pieces. It’s a cat and mouse car chase extravaganza. None of it seems necessary. The man can supposedly read math like English, but it never affects the plot. Except that suddenly means he can understand the alien language. Supposedly, those clicks equate to math somehow. Don’t worry, later they explain that the totally non-invasive and semi-consensual abduction that happened in his childhood left him with an affinity of some sort. That’s as good an explanation as any, in the filmmaker’s eyes. The other main character is given god-like powers that are the biggest Muguffin I’ve seen recently. She just does what the plot needs when the plot needs it. She can make other people see what they most want to see. That’s more than telepathy, a grokking technique like no other. She didn’t earn it either. It was a gift. It’s what the plot needs. Neither of them has a personality, neither has an arc. The acting was on par with most Shyamalan films. That should tell you enough. They switch between challenging Alma Moore’s wide-eyed I’m not on this planet stare in the Happening to the hysterical antics of the sundowning grandma in The Visit. And all the time they’re as emotionless as Cypher Raige from After Earth. They even managed to get a horrible performance from Colin Firth. This man won an oscar for The King’s Speech and he was uninteresting, uninspired and dull as the misguided, rich and powerful cardboard antagonist of this movie. 

The plot is classic Shyamalan. It thinks it’s building up an intriguing mystery with a deep twist at its core. The only problem is, the twist was established at the beginning but the movie treats it as a revelation. It also has the reverse problem of Signs. Signs was an intriguing movie with one of the silliest endings ever perpetrated. Disclosure Day is a silly slog that makes less sense the more you think about it. Then it Sign’s itself and destroys its momentum with an awful final 30 seconds. It is not worth watching this movie for the intrigue, because there is none. Spielberg is blatantly screaming at the audience that aliens exist, be ready, take this film seriously, take me seriously. All of these statements are contained in the final word uttered by the female protagonist as she discloses the unrevealed secret of what comes next. Spielberg couldn’t add anything further to the film because New Agers are incredibly vague about what happens after aliens arrive to save humanity. It’s supposed to be bliss somehow. 

The film doesn’t earn my respect. I can’t take it seriously. From what I’ve read about alien abductions, none of them are positive. You get the opposite of the vibe of the ones depicted in this film. Not only that, but interesting questions you seek answers to are left dangling by the end.

What works? The action is decent. But most of it is the result of characters acting recklessly. Not even the possibly interesting subplot about the end of the world is explored or given a meaningful conclusion. Shyamalan even managed to do better in Knock at the Cabin.

What’s more, the theme is confusing. Shyamalan usually has a blatantly obvious theme he’s going after. Even, how dare you make me say this, After Earth had a theme. In interviews, Spielberg said this movie was supposed to be about faith vs. science. Um, really. The science was nonexistent. The weird, irrelevant-seeming dialogue about religious zeal and people being shaken by revelations of first contact were horrifyingly forced. The theme is so poorly explored, so poorly executed  that the infamous line from The Happening recurs to me. It is the perfect non sequitur to destroy a conversation at any dinner party. One of the characters in that film suddenly says, “hey do you like hot dogs? without explanation. If you want to make a movie about faith vs. science, even a New Age one, okay, whatever. But when the aliens are treated as gods one moment and then are weak enough to be captured and tortured and can’t even seem to walk on our planet, then you just undercut your scary aliens. 

At least Shyamalan is entertaining. This movie is not worth your time on any level for any reason. If you want unintentional hilarity, go watch Shyamalan. Do you want a good movie? Watch early Spielberg. E. T. was not about the alien. It was about family, about growing up, and a lot else. This movie is just a mess that made me question if an actual alien abduction and probing would be easier to handle.