The Big Picture · Discussion · Review
June 12, 2026/ 122 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda review Steven Spielberg's 'Disclosure Day,' the David Koepp-scripted alien-conspiracy chase that drops the metaphor and asks, flatly, what if they're real. First, a news rundown: the 'Social Reckoning' and 'Whale Fall' trailers and the Academy's Governors Awards honorees.
5 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The news rundowntrailers and the Governors Awards
Aaron Sorkin's written-and-directed follow-up to 'The Social Network,' effectively a sequel. Jeremy Strong as Zuckerberg, Jeremy Allen White and Mikey Madison as reporter and whistleblower. The trailer even borrows the Reznor/Ross scoring though the two aren't on the film. Both hosts read it as a movie about a system, not a person, and don't expect much.
The survival film from Daniel Kraus's novel, a man swallowed by a whale; Josh Brolin and Austin Abrams. Sean and Amanda saw the clip at CinemaCon and are pumped. Kraus just won a Pulitzer, though for 'Angel Down,' not this.
David and William Greaves documentary, 50 years in the making, on a reunion of Harlem Renaissance figures. Neon; caught at Cannes after a Sundance premiere. Sean calls it the presumptive Best Documentary favorite.
'Disclosure Day'Spielberg goes literal — spoilers within
Spielberg's 35th feature: his own story, David Koepp's script (their fifth together), John Williams's score (their 30th), Kaminski shooting. Emily Blunt as a Kansas City weather reporter who reads minds and speaks an alien tongue; Josh O'Connor as a Wardex hacker sitting on proof of an 80-year alien cover-up, racing to broadcast it. Colin Firth as the villain Scanlan, Colman Domingo as the fixer, Eve Hewson as the girlfriend, Wyatt Russell as the boyfriend. A 70s-style conspiracy chase with no metaphor underneath: what if aliens are just real. Sean transcends; Amanda admires the set pieces at a remove. Both open the Emily Blunt Oscar campaign, and both flag the underwritten O'Connor role and a too-fast final act.
The UAP documentary both hosts watched going in: ex-military and government talking heads, Marco Rubio among them, treat alien contact as a national-security threat. Credible on the facts, they thought, propagandistic in its hawkishness.
Also mentioned raised along the way
The Spielberg films it converses with Close Encounters of the Third KindE.T. the Extra-TerrestrialMinority ReportWar of the WorldsReady Player OneJurassic ParkThe Lost World: Jurassic ParkIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullSchindler's ListJawsDuelThe Sugarland ExpressThe PostThe FabelmansMunichThe Color PurpleRaiders of the Lost ArkA.I. Artificial IntelligenceWest Side StoryThe BFGWar HorseThe Adventures of Tintin
Touchstones and comparisons Three Days of the Condor2001: A Space OdysseyThe IncrediblesStar WarsThe Devil Wears PradaEdge of TomorrowSilenceThe IrishmanKillers of the Flower Moon
The Governors Awards honorees Thelma & LouiseGladiatorBlack Hawk DownAlienBlade RunnerThe MartianTrafficThe WifeThe SubstanceThe Sword in the StoneMary PoppinsThe Jungle BookRobin HoodSleeping BeautyHedwig and the Angry InchOne Hour PhotoThe Notorious Bettie PageMay DecemberMaterialistsCaptain America: Brave New World
Also in the news The Social NetworkSteve JobsZodiacOppenheimerDiggerThe Dog StarsThe Adventures of Cliff BoothPressure
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV 60 MinutesCBS News
Video games FIFA World Cup Launch Edition
Books Angel Down
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