Steven Spielberg returns to the realm of sci-fi and alien conspiracy with Disclosure Day.
Written by David Koepp, the film follows a cybersecurity expert as he tries to expose the government’s cover-up of extraterrestrial secrets. At the same time, a weathergirl in Kansas City starts having abilities she’s never possessed before.
Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor lead the film’s cast, alongside Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Elizabeth Marvel and Hettienne Park.
Disclosure Day was released in cinemas worldwide on June 10, 2026.
Why do Margaret and Daniel have powers in Disclosure Day?
Throughout Disclosure Day, we see Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) and Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) possess abilities which defy comprehension. Margaret is able to see into the minds and lives of others, speak every single language on the planet, and know the whereabouts of Daniel despite not knowing him. Likewise, Daniel is able to understand an alien, mathematical language no one else on the planet can hear.
The reason Margaret and Daniel have these abilities is revealed when they are sheltered by a group of former Wardex employees, led by Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo). The pair are led to a warehouse where they’ve recreated Margaret’s childhood home, in a bid to uncover repressed memories from when they were young.
During this scene, we discover Margaret and Daniel were abducted by aliens when they were children and subjected to experiments. This gave them their powers, but they were laid dormant until they encountered a cardinal bird. It turns out, these animals – including the fox and deer they also see during the film – are actually the aliens in disguise.
It’s unclear why the aliens picked Margaret and Daniel specifically to carry these powers, but the former was designed to be a communicator to the people of Earth, while Daniel was essentially meant to be a translator between the aliens and the human race.
What happens at the end of Disclosure Day?
With their purpose reaffirmed, Margaret and Daniel return to the Kansas City TV news studio to tell the world about the extraterrestrial cover-up. Wardex attempts to derail the broadcast by cutting off the power supply, but the alien device, protected by Daniel’s girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson) restores power to the entire station.
Margaret delivers the broadcast, titled Disclosure Day, to the entire nation, which halts the prospect of World War III. In the broadcast, we see how Wardex has been experimenting on alien captives and keeping their technology a secret for decades, which, for the entire world, confirms the existence of extraterrestrial life.
In the final scene, the ex-Wardex whistleblowers reveal they have been sheltering one of the aliens. After the alien is rolled out, it communicates a message to Daniel, who relays it to Margaret. With the whole world watching, Margaret goes to deliver the message, but as she says “Listen”, the screen cuts to black.
It’s unclear what the alien told Daniel, so it’s left open to interpretation whether it is a message of peace, or more cynically, a declaration of invasion.