Culture

‘Disclosure Day’ is Spielberg’s best film in over 20 years

SFGATE columnist Drew Magary loved Spielberg’s new alien blockbuster

By Drew Magary, Columnist, June 9, 2026

I put a question to my SFGATE colleagues just the other day that had them mulling for a bit: What’s the last great movie that Steven Spielberg directed? I’m not talking about a merely good film. The old man can put together a competent picture anytime he likes. I’m talking about an all-timer of a Spielberg movie, something that belongs up there with his best work, which includes “Jaws,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “E.T.,” “Schindler’s List” and … you get the idea.

When you’re a director who’s made not just one of the greatest movies of all time but several of them, audience members like me hope for (and oftentimes expect) greatness from you with every subsequent project. Such is the standard that Spielberg, father of the modern blockbuster, set for himself. It’s also a standard that, in my opinion, he has not reached since the release of “Catch Me If You Can,” his note-perfect caper film, back in 2002. The bulk of my colleagues agreed, which led to a much more pointed question: Is Steven Spielberg washed?

With the release this week of his latest movie, “Disclosure Day,” I can now tell you, the reader, that the answer is no. Steven Spielberg, much to my relief, is still very much Steven Spielberg. This is the best film he’s made in nearly a quarter century. I have no idea if it’ll ascend to the status of an enduring classic — only time gets to decide that—but goddamn, what a movie.

---

---

If you’re unfamiliar with the premise of “Disclosure Day,” perhaps because it has a clunky title that reminds viewers like me of that one time Demi Moore sexually harassed Michael Douglas, I can get you situated real quick (and relatively spoiler-free). Steven Spielberg has made another movie about extraterrestrials. That’s really all you need to know, isn’t it?

You know that Spielberg is in his element when he’s spinning a yarn about little green men from outer space. It’s a subject that aligns perfectly with his directorial sensibilities: the wonder of the unknown, the idea that we are not alone, kids who have serious daddy issues, things of that nature. So long as you’re not watching “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” you know that your alien story is in good hands with this man.

This time around, our story is about Daniel Kellner (rising star Josh O’Connor), a pencil-pusher at a shadowy defense corporation who opens the film having stolen a precious MacGuffin, among other things, from his boss Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth). You know what big meanies the men in suits are in a Spielberg flick. Firth, operating at peak Colin Firth, plays his character no different. Scanlon wants his MacGuffin back and sends out a legion of underlings in black cars to capture Kellner and blow stuff up real good.

Read more: ‘Disclosure Day’ is Spielberg’s best film in over 20 years – SF Gate

Continue/Read Original Article: ‘Disclosure Day’ is Spielberg’s best film in over 20 years