The first Rotten Tomatoes reviews are in for Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, and the movie is currently off to a strong start with an 89% critics score.
The verdict is mostly positive, with critics calling it a return to classic Spielberg sci-fi, even as some say the movie gets too messy, too preachy, and doesn’t fully deliver on its big alien reveal.
The movie marks Spielberg’s return to extraterrestrial territory more than 20 years after War of the Worlds, and based on the early reviews, Disclosure Day is being received as a big-screen sci-fi thriller built around wonder, conspiracy, empathy, and humanity’s reaction to the truth about alien life.
What The Reviews Are Saying
Emily Blunt is drawing some of the strongest praise, while critics are also pointing to Spielberg’s direction, John Williams’ score, and a major train sequence as highlights.
With the Rotten Tomatoes score currently sitting at 89%, the overall reaction is positive, though not unanimous. Many critics say Disclosure Day delivers classic Spielberg sci-fi, while the negative reviews argue the story, pacing, and big payoff don’t fully land.
Find out what the negative and positive reviews have to say below.
Negative Reviews Say Disclosure Day Falls Short
The Rotten reviews are not trashing Spielberg’s craft across the board, but they argue Disclosure Day doesn’t live up to the director’s own high bar. Several critics describe the movie as dated, thin, repetitive, or too dependent on ideas Spielberg has handled better before.
Mike Massie of Gone With The Twins was one of the harshest, writing, “It’s peculiarly lazy science-fiction; it so desperately wants to be profound, but it’s mostly just over-the-top and laughable.”
Grace Randolph of Beyond the Trailer called it “A very sloppy & dated movie that uses aliens to talk about politics & religion, while having nothing remotely meaningful to say on either front.”
Nick Schager of The Daily Beast said the movie is “an alien affair that never delivers the grand payoffs it teases.”
Nicholas Barber of BBC.com called it “A flimsy, outdated car-chase thriller with no ideas about aliens that we haven’t heard before.”
Alonso Duralde of The Film Verdict said the movie feels like “a tour of tropes that Spielberg has tackled with greater skill and sensitivity.”
The negative side basically argues Disclosure Day has the shape of a major Spielberg event movie, but not the freshness or emotional punch of his best work. The complaints are less about the cast and more about the script, with critics saying the movie teases a major revelation but doesn’t make the landing strong enough.
Positive Reviews Call It Classic Spielberg
The positive reviews are much more enthusiastic, with many critics saying Disclosure Day proves Spielberg can still deliver an original blockbuster with heart, scale, suspense, and a sense of wonder.
Chris Tilly of Dexerto called the movie “a captivating sci-fi blockbuster that features affecting performances everywhere you look.”
Fred Topel of United Press International said it is “Every bit the event Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park were.”
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com wrote, “blockbusters can be morally and thematically complex while they’re entertaining the hell out of you.”
Germain Lussier of io9.com called it “Steven Spielberg at the peak of his modern powers.”
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said Disclosure Day is “never anything other than entertaining and grade-A fun.”
For the critics who loved it, Disclosure Day works because it doesn’t treat the alien angle as empty spectacle. They see it as Spielberg once again asking what happens when ordinary people are confronted with something impossible, and whether fear, greed, politics, and denial can give way to something more hopeful.
Disclosure Day Release Info
Disclosure Day opens in theaters on June 12, 2026.
The film is directed by Steven Spielberg, who created the original story. The screenplay is by David Koepp, marking another collaboration between Koepp and Spielberg following films such as Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The cast includes Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, and Colman Domingo.
The official synopsis teases: “If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to eight billion people. We are coming close to … Disclosure Day.”
The story follows a whistleblower racing to expose the truth about alien life, while a Kansas City meteorologist begins experiencing strange phenomena that may connect her to the larger mystery.
Based on the early Rotten Tomatoes reactions, Disclosure Day sounds like another divisive late-career Spielberg movie: too earnest and familiar for some, but for others, exactly the kind of big, emotional, original sci-fi blockbuster they have been waiting for.
