Steven Spielberg’s new film ‘Disclosure Day’ is a return to familiar territory: aliens trying to save humanity from itself. As Zeit writes in its review, the film turns out to be a ‘successful déjà-vu’ – a homage to Spielberg’s own classics, above all ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’.
The plot is set in a world on the brink of nuclear war: the US and Russia have their warheads aimed at each other. Then the aliens appear and deliver a message: only empathy can pacify humanity. News anchor Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) and cybersecurity expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) find themselves at the center of a secret conspiracy. Kellner wants to publish classified Roswell documents but is hunted by the organization ‘Wardex’, led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth).
‘They don’t belong to the government – they make their money from lies,’ Kellner says of Wardex. His girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson), a former nun, warns: ‘The world is on the brink anyway – what do you think will happen then?’ Kellner replies: ‘I don’t decide whether this data is good or bad. I just think it needs to come to light.’ Zeit sees this as a plea for whistleblowing reminiscent of WikiLeaks.
The film adds a religious perspective: Jane has her fellow nun confirm that God created humans only on Earth in his image – a likeness in other galaxies is not ruled out. Zeit considers this theological presumption unnecessary. David Koepp, known for ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Panic Room’, was not the happiest choice for this task, as his strength lies in genre pieces.
‘Disclosure Day’ is a chase drama on wheels, similar to Spielberg’s early ‘Sugarland Express’. Zeit regrets that two appealing fan theories about the ending did not materialize: neither does Richard Dreyfuss return as a witness from the spaceship, nor does Spielberg show real Pentagon files. Instead, the message remains sober: empathy as a guarantee of world peace.
Source: www.zeit.de
