Well.
To start with, this movie would have been thoroughly exciting approximately thirty years ago, not least as a counterweight to its theme’s non-stop depressing (yet terrific) treatments that were the rage in the 1990s.
Also, the screenplay is, noticeably, the usual Koepp-fare—mostly competent, but generic and often intentionally sloppy to force certain outcomes that would otherwise need a lot more hard work. (Everybody and their dog, e.g., knows at least since 1988 that the very first counter-measure in certain situations is to cut the power, but all those super-duper spook and media professionals aren’t prepared for that so that Jane can demonstrate her change of heart by saving the day with another deus-ex-machina device, which in turn only works because the preceding device had burned out without any established reason, precedent, or internal logic. And. So. On.)
On the other hand, I really enjoyed the movie. It is professionally done, it is very Spielbergian in its dramatic development and positive outlook, and, most of all, it runs on 100% nostalgia oil for everyone who grew up on all that stuff—from Roswell to Close Encounters to the UFO craze to the Cold War to the nuclear threat, and so on, all of which can now belatedly be solved and overcome in the movie even without the help of a time machine.
And, not to forget, there was a lot of good acting, particularly by Blunt, and Courtney Grace as the nameless NBC anchorwoman toward the end was absolutely phenomenal and knocked it—me—emotionally out of the park.
So, yeah. What it comes down to, I think, roughly, is that your mileage is going to vary with the generational cohort you identify with.
Disclosure Day by Steven Spielberg, 2026.
Watched at the Atelier theater on July 9, 2026, in its original language.