STACK #263 September 2026

FEATURE MOVIE

DISCLOSURE DAY SPIELBERG’S NEXT CLOSE ENCOUNTER GENRE: Sci-f i RUN TIME: 2hr 41m With aliens, government secrets, and ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events, Disclosure Day is the quintessential Steven Spielberg film.

“Overnight, I developed a real curiosity about what is happening up there in the stars, on some planet orbiting in any number of countless solar systems, and if one of them might have a civilisation that was advanced enough to travel the universe,” he adds. Emily Blunt plays a TV meteorologist whose ordinary life becomes caught up in a mystery far bigger than she could have imagined, opposite Josh O’Connor’s cybersecurity expert turned-whistleblower, who uncovers

M arking his return to alien science fiction, the film reunites the legendary director with screenwriter David Koepp, who previously collaborated with Spielberg on Jurassic Park, The Lost World, and War of the Worlds . But this isn’t simply another alien invasion story. Disclosure Day is far more interested in the idea of alien contact and what might happen if governments and powerful organisations had been hiding evidence that extraterrestrial life actually exists. The film represents the latest expression of Spielberg’s fascination with what he calls “the great unknowns of the cosmos”, a fascination that dates back to childhood and a father who introduced him to both science fiction and astronomy.

evidence connected to a long-hidden government secret. Blunt was immediately drawn to the project.

“When you get a call that Steven Spielberg wants to meet you, it’s one of those situations where, if you had a jetpack, you would stick it on and get to the meeting as fast as possible,” she says. For Spielberg, Disclosure Day also provides an opportunity to revisit the themes of Close Encounters while asking a very modern question:

Emily Blunt

“I remember one summer, my dad took me out to look at the annual

FUN FACT

Director Steven Spielberg

Perseid meteor shower when we were living in New Jersey,” recalls Spielberg, who would famously go on to make Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Spielberg wrote Disclosure Day on the Notes app on his iPhone.

what if we finally discovered we are not alone? Gill Pringle

• Disclosure Day is out Sep 23

E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Super 8, *batteries not included, Men in Black, Transformers

MORE CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPIELBERG KIND:

GENRE: Sci-fi action RUN TIME: 1hr 48m

FUN FACT

SUPERGIRL REBEL WITH A CAPE Starring Australia’s own superstar Milly Alcock – and directed by Aussie Craig Gillespie - Supergirl is a very different kind of superhero movie.

Milly Alcock’s Supergirl cape incorporates leftover fabric originally used for Christopher Reeve’s Superman cape in the 1978 film.

that was destroyed. That history has left her angry, cynical, and somewhat reckless. Gillespie was determined to find the perfect actress for

his Supergirl, and says Alcock’s interpretation is “very rough around the edges and unapologetic.” “It’s uncompromising, and I'm so happy with where we ended up and the way that Milly has been able to bring her to life, because it's just unapologetic in the best way,” says Gillespie. Along the way, Alcock’s Supergirl

R ather than simply giving us a female version of Superman, Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira have created a rougher, more complicated, and surprisingly emotional adventure centred on Kara Zor-El. “Kara is someone who is uncomfortable in her own skin. I think she's uncomfortable with the life that she's been given and the responsibility that she's been given,” muses Alcock, who endured two months of intense physical training for the role. “I think she has a lot of survivor’s guilt, and she internalises that by self destructing and deflecting any real

sense of responsibility, because it's easier.” When a ruthless enemy causes a personal tragedy, Kara embarks on an interstellar quest for justice and revenge, reluctantly joined by Ruthye, a young girl with a devastating loss of her own.

The comic book – Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow - which inspired the film, particularly resonated with Alcock. “The illustration and the world that has been created is so stunning. And I think also the story about resilience and about these two girls on a mission to overcome their own grief,” she says. What makes Supergirl particularly interesting is that Kara is not presented as a squeaky-clean superhero who always knows the right thing to do. She remembers Krypton and the people she loved there, and unlike her cousin Superman, she carries memories of the world

encounters Matthias Schoenaerts’ Krem, Jason Momoa’s outrageous intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo, and David Corenswet’s Superman. Gill Pringle

Milly Alcock and Krypto

• Supergirl is out Sep 23

YOUR NEXT DC BINGE:

Superman, Blue Beetle, The Flash, Aquaman, Shazam!, Black Adam, The Suicide Squad

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