Disclosure Day: Knowing the Unknowable

Moving beyond typical sci-fi fare, Academy award winning director Steven Spielberg employs every tool in his arsenal to tell a bold, no-limits story of life, the universe, and the Divine.

What would happen if a day came when, suddenly, we knew everything there was to know about the universe and our place in it? The blockbuster film Disclosure Day, coming to theaters June 12, answers this question in an epic yet shockingly intimate way.

Synopsis:

If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to eight billion people. We are coming close to ... Disclosure Day. Source: Universal Pictures

I filed into a massive IMAX theater at Universal Citywalk last night without knowing very much about the film I’d be watching. Lately, I like to enter screenings this way. I find that when I come in with no preconceived notions, my heart is wide open to embrace the viewing experience. Halfway through the film, I was so engrossed in the story that I kept having to tell myself, “Breathe!”

Disclosure Day opens from the perspective of Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), a math genius clearly on the run from something and primarily concerned with freeing his girlfriend, Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson), who seems to have been held for ransom by some very nefarious characters. At the same time, quirky meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) seems to be experiencing some major existential crisis that has her looking for something more than the local market success she’s found in Kansas City. On the other side of things, Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) is at the helm of Wardex, a secretive organization determined to keep humanity’s biggest revelation hidden.

Throughout the movie, Daniel and Jane seem intent on running away from Wardex and toward Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), a former Wardex leader and insider who now focuses on one purpose: full disclosure of the trove of facts that Wardex has been secreting from the public for over seventy years. As they run for their lives, Jane tells Daniel she knows a place that will be safe. Sheltering at a monastery named for Saint Clare of Assisi, Jane reveals her past to Daniel. She was a novice but questioned her religious vocation before taking her vows.

Jane’s revelation is the first instance of a major theme in the film: our callings in life. Throughout the movie, it seems that almost every character is grappling with the same question you and I so often ask ourselves: What is the purpose of my life? In time, as circumstances draw them ever closer together, Daniel and Margaret discover a dual calling. Like two sides of the same coin, Daniel and Margaret must overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to live out their lives’ missions. At times, Jane is Daniel’s partner, but she also becomes a dangerous tool for Scanlon, who uses a powerful weapon to manipulate Jane to reach Daniel. 

Spiritual Angles to Contemplate

Disclosure Day is fast-paced and complex. While the mystery at play would have us think this is a heart-racing thriller, I found myself contemplating the movie’s many deeper spiritual angles:

• This may be a movie about aliens, but at its core, it’s also a movie that asks itself, and us, all of life’s biggest questions. Scanlon and Wardex have hidden the truth for decades because they doubt humanity’s ability to live with that truth. Today’s conversation around AI points to our ongoing desire for such power and knowledge. Will we use this for good, or for our own benefit?
• Daniel, Margaret, and everyone around them are asking for answers to seemingly unknowable questions. Their questions relate to extraterrestrial life, but ours about God, the origins of the universe, and life after death hold the same power over us.
• Throughout the film, we witness Hugo and his team building a structure that becomes a destination for Daniel and Margaret. Ultimately, this is explained. But as we come to know him, Hugo seems to be an embodiment of compassion and the champion for truth and enlightenment.
• While this is not a film for children in the way that E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was, Spielberg again treats us to an ample dose of wonder: about animals who see into our souls and about those other living beings with whom we may share our universe. Wonder is everywhere in Disclosure Day. Seeing the film reminds us to sit back and wonder at the goodness of God all around us.

Not to be missed in all of the action and amazing special effects of Disclosure Day is the beautiful score by John Williams. At 94 years of age, Williams has scored thirty films with Spielberg. Certainly, Williams's artistry is another nod toward divine calling!

I am anxious for a second viewing of Disclosure Day. Now that I understand where the story is leading me, I’m want to dive into some of the many details that flew past me like alien starships in the night. Ultimately, I believe the film asks a profoundly spiritual question: If the universe revealed a truth larger than anything we have ever imagined, would we respond with fear — or with wonder?

Our answer may say as much about our faith as it does about extraterrestrials.

Disclosure Day opens nationwide in theaters on June 12 and is rated PG-13 for action/violence, some bloody images, and strong language.

A question for you:

Have you ever pondered the existence of life outside our planet — yes or no? 

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Copyright 2026 Lisa M. Hendey
Images: movie poster copyright 2026 Universal Pictures, all rights reserved; all others copyright 2026 Lisa M. Hendey, all rights reserved