Disclosure Day

A local weather presenter (Emily Blunt) has a funny turn live on air and begins speaking a strange language. One man, on the run from the authorities for stealing state secrets (Josh O’Connor), is the only person to understand what she said.

The trailer for this gives the film an air of mystery that is probably unwarranted - it’s a spy thriller with a sci-fi element. It’s no spoiler to explain the plot: the government has been hiding the fact that aliens have made contact with us for decades now, and Josh O’Connor feels the need to reveal this information to the public. This is established very early on in the film so it’s unclear why the marketers felt the need to give it a weird spin.

There are some failings with this film for sure. John Williams’ score is overbearing, but then oddly absent when you might think they could have used it.

The story grabs you from the start, but sags in the middle before just about getting on its way again for the final third. It’s a tad over-burdened by the various themes and ideas it wants to explore - war, family, human connection, religion. At the same time, it’s this ambition that won me over in the end.

I broadly liked the film. It has its moments of spectacle and bombast but is really driven my its emotional intelligence and intimacy. Probably only Steven Spielberg gets to spend this kind of budget on a film that isn’t an immediate crowd pleaser, but it’s money in good hands.

The performances are all great and it’s good to see Colin Firth continuing the ‘English guy is always the villain’ tradition. This time he even has a roll neck jumper on.