Disclosure Day review: Spielberg’s alien thriller delivers a spellbinding, star-powered return to form
Steven Spielberg directs this alien conspiracy thriller starring Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, and Colin Firth, now in UK cinemas, as a Kansas City meteorologist and a government whistleblower race to expose a decades-long cover-up of extraterrestrial life.
TL;DR
- Disclosure Day opened in US and UK cinemas on 12 June 2026, directed by Steven Spielberg with a screenplay by David Koepp.
- Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, and Colin Firth lead a largely British cast in this alien conspiracy thriller with a $115 million budget.
- The film opened to $44 million domestically and $93 million worldwide — Spielberg’s biggest opening weekend for an original project.
- UK opening weekend reached £7.6 million, in line with Ready Player One and ahead of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet.
What is Disclosure Day about?
Disclosure Day centres on Daniel Kellner, a cybersecurity expert who decides to blow the whistle on his employer, Wardex — a powerful agency operating outside government boundaries that has suppressed evidence of alien visits to Earth for decades.
Alongside this, Kansas City meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) begins to experience the world in impossible ways — not just speaking fluent Russian to her boyfriend, but understanding people’s entire life stories simply by looking in their eyes.
Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), the Wardex CEO, declares Daniel a foreign spy — and, after seeing footage of Margaret, moves to neutralise them both.
The performances
Emily Blunt is the undeniable heart of the film.
Out of all the strong performances, Blunt stands head and shoulders above everyone else, bringing genuine emotional depth and naturalistic dramatic weight to the proceedings. The scene in which her character emits alien clicks during a live weather broadcast is truly compelling — and reportedly performed in a single take, without AI enhancement, despite initial plans to the contrary.
O’Connor matches Blunt beat for beat, according to Deadline Hollywood Daily‘s Pete Hammond. Eve Hewson is given a showcase scene in which Scanlon attempts to use a mind-control device on her, and her physical performance under intense duress continues to demonstrate her fantastic range.
Firth effectively plays against type as the villain of the piece — one who chooses to believe he is acting in the country’s best interests. Some critics feel the issues with his character are more script-based than performance-based, but his presence adds real menace.
Colman Domingo also impresses as Hugo Wakefield, a former Wardex whistleblower guiding Daniel’s operation from the shadows.
Direction, score, and craft
The film opens from a wrestler’s perspective — the camera pummelled by the bottom of an opponent’s boot in a dizzying POV shot. It is an uncommonly kinetic opening for a director whose films usually begin quietly and crescendo from there.
This is Spielberg signalling intent early: he wants your attention, and he holds it.
Spielberg’s previous film, The Fabelmans, echoed his life story and the birth of his love of filmmaking. Disclosure Day serves as a fascinating companion piece about the truths people seek in storytelling.
John Williams provides the score, while cinematographer Janusz Kamiński — Spielberg’s long-time visual collaborator — opts for a heightened realism employed in so many of his collaborations with the director as the film moves forward.
Story strengths — and weaknesses
Spielberg’s sci-fi films have always been about more than entertainment — from how his parents’ divorce influenced Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. to how War of the Worlds can be read as a 9/11 allegory. Disclosure Day continues that tradition, asking what faith, religion, and human identity would look like if intelligent life elsewhere were confirmed.
Viewers hoping for Independence Day-level alien spectacle may be disappointed. Disclosure Day is very much a human story — more gritty 1970s conspiracy thriller than cosmic blockbuster, albeit one with cosmological consequences.
Not every critic is convinced, however.
Some have pointed out that the plot hinges on revealing an alien conspiracy in a manner more fitting of the 1990s. The talent involved is undeniable and the performances work, but the story, for some, never evolves beyond concepts that have been explored repeatedly for decades.
UK angle: a very British blockbuster
Three of the film’s leading cast members — Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, and Colin Firth — are British, making this one of the most UK-talent-heavy Hollywood blockbusters of the summer.
The film opened in UK cinemas on 12 June 2026. The UK opening weekend reached $7.6 million, landing ahead of Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Spielberg visited London during the press tour, with a stop at a local pub that went viral online.
As part of the UK marketing campaign, Universal Pictures staged the first ever media roadblock activation in the country on 10 June, during the peak commute window of 8am to 9am. Over 3,500 digital out-of-home screens across key cities simultaneously displayed Disclosure Day messaging, timed to TikTok and IMDb takeovers.
The film is rated PG-13 in the United States. The BBFC had not yet issued an official UK age rating at the time of writing, though the trailer makes clear there are tense moments more suited to an older audience.
Box office and critical reception
Disclosure Day opened to $93 million worldwide in its opening weekend.
Domestically, the $44 million debut is Spielberg’s biggest opening weekend for an original project, surpassing Saving Private Ryan‘s $30 million debut in 1998. It also ranks among the top openings for a film with an original screenplay since the pandemic.
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| US opening weekend | $44 million |
| Global opening weekend | $93 million |
| UK opening weekend | $7.6 million |
| Budget | $115 million |
| Rotten Tomatoes score | 80–82% |
| Metacritic score | 72–73 |
Sources: Deadline, Rotten Tomatoes, Gold Derby
Critics have largely praised the film, which earned an 89% score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of the embargo lift, with a 73 rating on Metacritic.
As the High on Films review notes, Disclosure Day may not quite reach the upper echelon of Spielberg’s filmography, but sitting slightly below more than a dozen stone-cold classics is no cause for shame. In both a cultural and literal sense, it is aspirational — a story that looks toward an uncertain future with moral clarity.
Verdict
Disclosure Day is the event movie the summer needed. It does not reinvent science fiction, and it will not settle debates about whether Spielberg’s best days are behind him. But it does what only a handful of filmmakers alive can do: it makes you feel the wonder of cinema itself.
Blunt alone is worth the ticket price. O’Connor is her ideal foil. And Spielberg, at 79, still knows exactly when to hit you in the chest.
Screen & Story rating: 4/5
Film details
| Director | Steven Spielberg |
| Screenplay | David Koepp |
| Story | Steven Spielberg |
| Cast | Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell |
| Cinematography | Janusz Kamiński |
| Music | John Williams |
| Running time | 145 minutes |
| Distributor | Universal Pictures / Amblin Entertainment |
| UK release | 12 June 2026 |
| US rating | PG-13 |
| Budget | $115 million |
Related reading
- Project Hail Mary review — the sci-fi blockbuster Disclosure Day has to beat
- Josh O’Connor: from The Crown to Hollywood’s most in-demand actor
- Best sci-fi films of 2026 so far — ranked
Reported from publicly available interviews and verified press sources. Last reviewed 15 June 2026.
Chloe Jones is a film and television critic dedicated to providing expert analysis of movies, web series, and the latest in prestige TV. Known for her insightful perspective and deep industry knowledge, Chloe helps audiences navigate the crowded streaming landscape with honesty and expertise. Folow me on letterboxd
