Perhaps rewatching The Omen is better prep for this movie than thinking about UFOs?  In this regard Disclosure Day is somewhat more interesting than I had been expecting.

Peter Thiel, Ross Douthat, telephone!

And yet I have plenty of quibbles.  It was a little too long.  The acting is entirely serviceable, but none of the characters are excellent or memorable.  The portraits of America are below the level of charm and insight we have come to expect from Spielberg.  And any time a character makes “a speech” it is pretty mediocre.

Cinematic influences are numerous, starting with E.T. and Close Encounters of course.  Not to mention Sugarland Express.  I was surprised to see the references to The Magic Flute, including the Bergman cinematic version.  Perhaps Spielberg had Jacob’s Ladder in mind as well?

The Freudian interpretation of the film I will not articulate, but it surfaces near the end and never quite goes away.

But who here was the Antichrist anyway?  That is up for grabs.

I had no problem sitting through the movie and enjoying it, but the problem of excess hodgepodge never went away for me.  So I will grade this one as misunderstood, but nonetheless no better than an interesting failure.