Disclosure Day(2026)

First off, the good stuff. This was an engaging film with great production value. It keeps tension well throughout its very long runtime. Everyone’s acting is online. The score is great. It's a good movie that is worth watching. It could have been a great movie if it had come out in the previous century.

In 2026 though, it adds little substance to the conversation on this subject. For a movie that’s about alien life, nothing in the story that directly concerns the alien civilization makes any sense. The aliens are entirely a plot device for the conversation about empathy and humanity that the director of wanted to have instead.

The film constantly invokes the existential weight of discovering alien life, but there is very little curiosity in examining where that comes from. I understand that perhaps this was not the point of the story, but nonetheless the arc that the film wants you to follow does not fully work because this discussion is missing. As a result, I felt none of the emotional weight when the climax hit. Perhaps I should just accept that alien movies really peaked in 1997 with Contact, which honestly is a pretty deserving peak.

One tiny thing did move me. At the news station towards the end the film, the staff ask out loud "Why am I doing this?" before doing the things they are asked to do, which felt like a sweet metaphor for human existence. This fleeting moment was maybe the only time the movie addressed the existentialist backdrop that underlies the whole story outside of religion. I didn't feel it was enough, but did notice and appreciated it.

A few asides: Emily Blunt was very good in this, but the bit about her doing the alien sounds was a bit overmarketed. The sounds weren't that alien - I feel like I could make them. Josh O’Connor is still fully imprinted in my mind as dirty tennis otter from Challengers. Every time he gives his signature earnest stare of concern, I automatically think he is in a sweaty locker room looking at Art with his dick out.