Reviews
Disclosure Day (2026)
BY MARCEL PETERSEN
June 13, 2026
Universal
Disclosure Day is Steven Spielberg’s first major return to big Sci-Fi story-telling since his 2005 remake of War of the Worlds (I won’t count Ready Player One (2018)). Can a Spielberg blockbuster still be a blockbuster? Can it still make an impact like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)? This movie is not as intense as War of the Worlds, not as magical as E.T., and not as personal as Close Encounters—but it’s also an amalgamation of all of this. What has 50 years of this storytelling done for society? Have we forgotten how to watch, how to listen?
Disclosure Day follows Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), a Kansas City weather reporter, who begins experiencing changes in how she can communicate with other people; Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), a cyber-security expert who has stolen data from his former employer, the shadowy government-adjacent organization Wardex; Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), the head of Wardex, intent on information suppression; and Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), the head of a covert group opposed to Wardex’s goals.
The movie begins in media res, with Daniel Kellner on the run. With the help of a mysterious alien object, Daniel evades capture and is able to rescue his (former?) girlfriend, Jane Blakenship (Eve Hewson), who, we find out, was going to become a nun—and this is seemingly just for the movie to have an excuse to discuss the perhaps opposing realities of aliens and God.
Universal
Meanwhile, Margaret is also on the run, after her outburst of alien language on live TV brings Wardex’s attention to her as another target. Her boyfriend, Jackson (Wyatt Russell), tries going along with her at first, but Margaret’s new intuitive understanding is a lot to follow—not only for him, but also for the audience.
Margaret’s newly-realized intuitive communication stands in contrast with Scanlon’s telepathic linking (achieved by using the same multi-purpose alien technology that Daniel uses earlier in the movie). While Margaret uses her abilities to create understanding between people, Scanlon intends to control people so he can achieve his goal of suppressing information. Any technology can be used to control rather than to share and communicate—whether that’s an alien rod or, say, social media.
Disclosure Day asks questions about alien contact, doesn’t explore them too deeply, but does ask us to think about them. The movie instead focuses on the conflict between those that intend to suppress information and those that want to share it. For the most part this works well in the movie. Frustratingly, though, the finale includes constant reporter commentary telling us how interesting and awe-inspiring what we’re seeing is, instead of letting the images speak for themselves.
Disclosure Day examines alien contact and humanity’s relationship with it—but also our relationship with each other. Have we stopped wondering, caring, listening? What would it take to get everyone to think about the same issue? What does it take to truly understand other people? We’re fractured as a society, both as a country and the world at large. Would incontrovertible proof of alien contact change any of this? Would it inspire greater understanding and wonder, or just more fear and suppression? The choice is up to us.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Obsession (2025)
BY MARCEL PETERSEN
June 3, 2026
Blumhouse
Obsession is keenly tuned-in to Gen Z relationships. Thankfully, it is not preachy about the subject, it just feels real—in part, probably due to the fact that writer/director Curry Barker is telling it from his perspective as part of this generation, rather than critiquing it from the outside.
The movie is well put-together, with a stand-out performance by Inde Navarrette as Nikki, a girl in a group of four twenty-somethings who all work at a music store. Along with Nikki, there is Bear (Michael Johnston), lonely and restrained; Ian (Cooper Tomlinson), confident and straight forward; and Sarah (Megan Lawless), laid-back and kind.
Bear likes Nikki, and Nikki likes Bear (but not like that)—that is, until Bear stumbles upon a novelty item at a witchy crystal shop, while he’s looking for a gift to give to Nikki: the “One Wish Willow,” which grants its user one (and only one) wish.
Blumhouse
After an uncomfortable good-bye after dropping Nikki off after a bar trivia night, Bear makes the wish that she loved him “more than anyone in the fucking world”—not knowing it would actually come true. A change comes over Nikki and she walks back to his car and Bear immediately notices she is not acting like herself. And from there, things escalate quickly.
Interestingly, the “One Wish Willow” that Bear uses to wish for Nikki’s love was originally intended as a gift. But instead of being used as a token of his infatuation, it becomes the instrument guaranteeing hers. In reality, of course, there is nothing that you can say or do or buy to actually make someone love you: love is too complicated, even for magical wish-sticks. Whatever magic is harnessed by the “One Wish Willow” understands that the only way to make this forced “love” happen is through a kind of demonic possession.
Each character, through selfishness, inaction, or both, makes their own and others’ situations worse—the most grievous of which is Bear, who refuses to step out of the weird limbo he is in with Nikki—both pre- and post-wish.
Obsession has been well received, with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes score and a 4.2 average on Letterboxd. On top of that, it’s had an historic three consecutive weeks of increasing box office. Obsession speaks to the current moment—whether that’s unclear boundaries in relationships, fear of rejection and awkwardness, or male loneliness (and entitlement).
I’m sure we’ll all be in for another grim and interesting movie with Curry Barker’s upcoming Texas Chainsaw Massacre reboot.
RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars