Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day is drawing enthusiastic first reactions after preview screenings, and much of the praise is going to Emily Blunt. Journalists and critics who saw the Universal film posted their first-blush social media reviews after the screenings, calling the movie a strong return to the UFO genre and highlighting Blunt’s performance in particular.
That early response matters because Disclosure Day is Spielberg’s first new movie since 2022’s The Fabelmans, and the reactions are already comparing it to the director’s best-known work. The film stars Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor, with Colman Domingo, Colin Firth, Wyatt Russell and Eve Hewson also in the cast, and it explores what might happen if humanity received proof we are not alone.
Collider’s Steven Weintraub said Blunt is “incredible” and urged viewers not to see too much in advance, while Slashfilm’s Bill Bria called her turn her “most accomplished performance.” Gizmodo’s Germain Lussier went further, calling Disclosure Day Spielberg’s best film in 20 years and singling out an “all-time character/performance” from Blunt. Simon Thompson called her “wondrous,” and several early reactions praised the film’s emotional sweep and John Williams score.
The first reactions also suggest Spielberg is leaning hard into familiar territory without simply repeating himself. Critics described Disclosure Day as a blend of chase film, love story and mystery, and several compared its tone to Raiders, E.T. and Close Encounters. One reviewer called it the weirdest Spielberg movie ever made, while another said it felt like a companion piece to E.T. and Close Encounters. That mix of praise and comparison is exactly what has long followed Spielberg when he returns to science fiction: the bar is not just high, it is historical.
There is still one important caveat. These are early social media reviews from preview screenings, not a full critical consensus, and one reaction from Jacob Kleinman pushed back on the idea that it is the best Spielberg film in two decades. He said the movie has “half-baked ideas and plotlines” even if its classic sci-fi bones hold together. But for now, the balance of the first wave is clear: Disclosure Day has landed as one of Spielberg’s most warmly received recent releases, and Emily Blunt appears to be at the center of why it is hitting so hard.
