Disclosure Day Subtly Recalls One Of James Cameron’s Most Underrated Movies

This article contains mild spoilers for “Disclosure Day.”

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg has been fascinated by the concept of meeting aliens throughout his career, beginning with his first-ever feature (the locally self-distributed “Firelight” from 1964). He’s explored all manner of first contact stories, from the intimate (“E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial”), to the clandestine (“Close Encounters of the Third Kind”), and even the apocalyptic (“War of the Worlds”). This month’s “Disclosure Day” includes elements of all of the above, culminating in the titular moment of Revelation (with a capital R). While these films and so many others about humanity meeting aliens for the first time are focused on our perspective, it’s also intriguing to consider the extraterrestrials’ point of view. After all, if aliens exist, what would make them want to reveal themselves to us?

It turns out that Spielberg and writer David Koepp arrived at a similar answer to that query as James Cameron did back in 1989, when the latter released his underwater sci-fi epic “The Abyss.” That movie, which was made in the final years of the decades-long Cold War between the USA and Russia, hinges on the drama that arises after a Non-Terrestrial Intelligence (NTI for short) craft accidentally causes an American nuclear submarine to crash, causing an already nervous United States military to assume Russians are turning the Cold War hot. Tensions escalate to nearly the brink of a world war, if not nuclear armageddon.

“Disclosure Day” centers on tensions between America and North Korea, and Spielberg deliberately keeps the details of that potential conflict vague throughout. The way Spielberg focuses on the micro-stories of his characters while the macro plot unfolds in the background subtly recalls “The Abyss,” highlighting the latter’s importance and influence within the genre.

When the trailer dropped for “Disclosure Day,” some thought the film emulated “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and many speculated it could be a spiritual (or actual) sequel. While there are some aesthetic elements that both films share, “Disclosure Day” is more character-based than “Close Encounters” was. Sure, “Close Encounters” is absolutely a character study of its two leads, Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) and Jillian (Melinda Dillon), but most of the remaining characters in the film are obfuscated archetypes. Despite the authoritative yet warm presence of Claude (François Truffaut) and David (Bob Balaban), we never get to know them that well, while the other government representatives in the movie are generally as anonymous as they are legion. It’s an approach Spielberg used again for most of “E.T.,” before finally giving Keys (Peter Coyote) a human dimension in the end.

“Disclosure Day” has its anonymous side players, but most of the characters in the film are well drawn. Noah (Colin Firth) isn’t some mysterious antagonist but a person whose motivation is made clear, just as Daniel (Josh O’Connor) is passionately trying to convince his girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), of the existence of aliens, all while Margaret (Emily Blunt) is struggling to make sense of the mysterious things happening to her. It’s very reminiscent of the relationship dynamics in “The Abyss,” where Lt. Coffey (Michael Biehn) believes he must draw first blood in a new war, while Lindsey (Mary Elisabeth Mastrantonio) tries to convince her ex-husband, Bud (Ed Harris), of the mysterious things she’s seen. Both films sell us the reality of a huge revelation about aliens through the relatable perspectives of these dimensional characters.

The strongest connective tissue between “Disclosure Day” and “The Abyss” lies in how each movie depicts a burgeoning war against the backdrop of alien revelation shenanigans. Both films deliver much of the information surrounding these near-conflicts through news broadcasts. While the reasons for this are different in each film (the broadcasts in “The Abyss” highlight how removed from the surface world the crew of Deepcore are, while those in “Disclosure Day” foreshadow the climax of the movie), the effect of giving the alien plotlines heightened stakes without pulling focus is the same.

Spielberg’s film keeps the mounting hysteria of a potential war subtly in the background throughout the movie; a scene between Margaret and Jackson (Wyatt Russell) occurs while extras scramble around a gas station buying up supplies. Ironically, the theatrical cut of “The Abyss” was even more subtle, with much of the war subplot cut for time. The film’s special edition restored the movie to what James Cameron originally intended, including a climactic sequence in which the NTIs threaten Earth with an apocalyptic giant wave unless they reconsider their destructive path.

That moment in “The Abyss” is analogous to the disclosure in “Disclosure Day,” in which the aliens achieve a similar goal through information, confession, and communication. Both films view extraterrestrial revelation as a sort of deus ex machina moment for humanity. Cameron’s film is more philosophical, while Spielberg’s movie is more spiritual, yet they both take the position that human beings discovering they’re not alone in the universe would spark an innate sense of responsibility and empathy, almost as in a parental or romantic relationship. If the unknown inspires fear and hate, perhaps disclosure can inspire love.

“Disclosure Day” is in theaters now.