Will Christians second-guess their faith after seeing Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day when it hits theaters on June 12? I can't speak for all Christians, but Catholics shouldn't.
For a Monday-night screening in an IMAX theater, I pulled into the E.T. parking structure at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles -- the open-air mall side of Universal Studios, the home of Spielberg since the 1970s. Essentially, Universal is the house that Steven built.
Back in 1971, Spielberg made his film debut for the studio with Duel, a heart-pounding action thriller about the unseen driver of a rusty, battered truck who relentlessly pursues an an ordinary motorist (Dennis Weaver).
From the beginning, then, long before aliens, that sense of wonder, his signature blue light, or even sharks, Spielberg was a master of action.
Take Duel, marry it to Spielberg's 1977 sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind, throw in a touch of E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial, and you essentially have Disclosure Day.
It's a propulsive but emotional drama that takes the larger questions posed in Close Encounters and shoots them through a cannon, with more than a bit of X-Files-style conspiracy theory mixed in.
Spielberg co-produced and directed from a screenplay by veteran writer David Koepp, based on a story by Spielberg.
(But no, Disclosure Day isn't a Close Encounters sequel, but watching the earlier film first will increase the fun quotient about 25%.)
Set and shot in the U.S. (but featuring a mostly British -- and Irish -- cast), the film stars Josh O'Connor (who played a Catholic priest in the Netflix mystery film Wake Up, Dead Man) and Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer, The Devil Wears Prada 2), respectively, as cybersecurity expert Daniel, and TV meteorologist Margaret.
They caught up in a wild odyssey to reveal -- or not -- the truth about extraterrestrial life to the world ... and what the gub'mint (and shadowy organizations) know about it.
Colin Firth (IMHO, the only Mr. Darcy, from the 1995 BBC version of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice), who still presents a striking figure at 65, plays the head of a secretive quasi-governmental company that would like to stay that way.
The performances are uniformly great (especially Blunt), including Colman Domingo as an associate of Daniel's, and Eve Hewson (daughter of U2 lead singer Bono) as Daniel's girlfriend, Jane.
At one point, Jane reveals that she was a "novitiate." Sigh. Actually, she should have said novice, as in novice nun. And that's when the Church enters the picture.
And that's also where a recent misunderstanding cropped up -- and it's Spielberg's own fault.
Now 79, Spielberg, an observant Jew, caused a bit of a stir in social media with some comments he made during an interview.
From The Christian Post:
Speaking with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz on "CBS News Sunday Morning," Spielberg said "Disclosure Day," his upcoming movie about a meteorologist and a cybersecurity expert exposing the government's cover-up of extraterrestrial secrets, will touch on the implications such a revelation would have for religious people.
"There's a faction in the film that represents a pretty good position of why — possibly because of ontological shock, social dislocation — if this truth... were just known overnight, if the government announced, 'Yes, we have been keeping this from you since 1947,' that would mess up a lot of people."
Spielberg also said the film, one of whose characters is a former Roman Catholic nun, "also takes the position of the [Catholic] Church."
"What does this do to the fundamental beliefs that many of us have? Is God, our God, only on this planet, or is God a God for every system where there's civilization, intelligent life and even developing life?" he said of the questions the movie will raise.
First of all, Jane was a novice, she was not actually a nun, or a religious sister, because she claims she "lost her calling."
She says she's unsure about the divinity of God, and worries that, instead, people will worship aliens, which she refers to as actual "supreme beings."
Elizabeth Marvel plays Sister Maura, a wise and caring nun (or religious sister) at the Monastery of St. Clare of the Dawn (a variation of St. Clare of Assisi that I've never heard of), who approaches the notion of alien life with equanimity.
When Jane is concerned that extraterrestrial intelligence contradicts Genesis, Sister Maura reminds her that Scripture describes the creation of Earth, which doesn't necessarily preclude God's creation of other worlds with intelligent life.
So, if God is the God of the whole Universe, then He's the God of everything in it, whatever that is. God is existence itself, and aliens, like us, would be creatures, just creatures from another planet.
Are there really aliens? Maybe. I don't know for sure. Have they visited Earth? Maybe. I don't know for sure.
As for the Catholic Church, from EWTN News earlier this year:
The U.S. government on May 8 began releasing files related to unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) — previously referred to as unidentified flying objects (UFOs) — generating nationwide speculation regarding government evidence of extraterrestrial life and nonhuman intelligence. But what does the Catholic Church have to say about it?
There is “no dogma or formal teaching” promulgated by the Church on the question of extraterrestrial life, according to experts, but prominent Catholic scholars and philosophers have contributed to the discussion around the centuries-old question, one that remains unresolved amid intense public interest.
The article goes on to describe a variety of opinions and theories, but ultimately, the question of extraterrestrial life is a scientific one, which hasn't been definitively answered.
If it is, then if people have the Catholic (and generally Christian) understanding of God, then they shouldn't worship any fellow creatures, no matter how advanced.
When I asked the Gen Z recent college grad (who has a background in biology and engineering) next to me at the screening if she liked the film, she said she'd have to think about it.
As for me, I did enjoy Disclosure Day. In the Spielbergian canon, it's not Jaws, Close Encounters, Raiders of the Lost Ark or E.T., but it's entertaining, with moments of reflection and emotion sandwiched in among the multiple action sequences.
It doesn't bring anything new to the UFO/UAP conversation but draws instead on famliar lore around the subject. And it's up-to-date enough to acknowledge the question of fake AI video.
Disclosure Day is a handsome production ... aside from some surprisingly cheesy CGI animals. Honestly, is it that hard? Netflix's Christmas Chronicles had better deer, at a fraction of the budget.
In the 2026 sci-fi hierarchy so far, it's no Project Hail Mary, but it's a fun ride and generally worth the price of admission on the big screen.
NOTE TO PARENTS: Disclosure Day is rated PG-13, for action and violence, some bloody images, and strong language. Even as an adult, I found it adrenaline-inducing to watch, so you may want to screen out younger kids. There are also some scenes with Daniel and Margaret as children, that sensitive youngsters may find disturbing.
Reprinted with permission from Kate O'Hare's Pax Culturati blog at Patheos.com.
Image: Universal Pictures
Kate O’Hare, a longtime entertainment journalist, is Social Media Content Manager and Blog Editor at Family Theater Productions.
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