Why Disclosure Day Edifies One’s Christian Faith

Steven Spielberg’s latest movie, Disclosure Day, is the culmination of the director’s fascination with alien-themed movies that has captured his imagination for half a century. It all started with his first film, Firelight, which he made when he was only 18. He reused many of the concepts in that film for his 1977 blockbuster Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In 1982, he released E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, which was geared toward warming up children and even adults to the existence of aliens. Both movies look at them as benevolent creatures. I would argue that in Spielberg’s imagination, extraterrestrials often function as quasi-salvific figures who guide, heal, or elevate humanity.

E.T. had some religious motifs that granted the alien E.T. healing powers in a way that oddly mimicked Christ’s. In some posts found on 𝕏, critics of Spielberg and his Antichristic motivations link a perversion of the Sacred Heart of Christ with one of the cover images of E.T. The same critics argue that Disclosure Day’s release date is no mere coincidence. Spielberg’s movies about extraterrestrials, with the exception of the remake of War of the Worlds, paint them as benevolent yet highly advanced creatures. At the movie’s core lies a question that Spielberg has been repeating in numerous interviews leading up to its release: How would humanity react if it learned with certainty that it was not alone in the universe?

The story centers on Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor), a former employee of Wardex, a shadowy organization that is relentless in its attempt to conceal from the world evidence of extraterrestrial contact. Daniel steals classified files and alien technology that make him a target of pursuit in order to effectively silence him. The targeting of Daniel is led by Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth), who is determined to prevent Daniel from disclosing any information to the public. Daniel is unwavering in his commitment to release this information, which he views as vital knowledge that every human should know about.

At the same time, Kansas City meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) experiences some peculiar but extraordinary events after encountering what appeared to be an ordinary cardinal. She is suddenly able to speak in languages she has never learned before (something similar to what we know about one of the four telltale signs of possession), and she also has the power to perceive the thoughts and emotions of those within her proximity. Margaret finds herself drawn into a mystery that connects her to Daniel’s quest.

Between these two storylines, we find Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), a former insider who has the strong conviction that humanity is ready to confront this long-buried secret of the universe. Against the backdrop or subplot of the movie such as the mounting geopolitical tensions and the looming threat of nuclear conflict, he views disclosure as a pivotal moment in human history that will drastically change how humanity views its place in the cosmos

Throughout the movie, there are long-suppressed childhood memories that show that both Daniel and Margaret experienced contact with extraterrestrials. Daniel emerges with extraordinary gifts of reason, mathematics, and a profound ability to recognize patterns; Margaret is granted psychic powers, heightened empathy, and intuition. From a theological lens, these are secularized pseudo versions of humanity’s possession of God’s image and likeness with respect to our consciousness, which bestows humanity with the capacity for understanding, reason, and love.

On a couple of occasions, the film also introduces explicitly religious themes, including a former nun struggling with questions of faith. An older nun offers a philosophical perspective that echoes the central theme of Carl Sagan’s book and its film adaptation, Contact. The idea that humanity may be alone in the universe, and that this would seem “like an awful waste of space” serves as one of the film’s emotional anchor in both Contact and Disclosure Day. It is precisely this sense of wonder before the vastness of the cosmos, coupled with the vacuum in her heart left by her father’s death, that motivates her search. I cannot help but wonder whether Spielberg’s own lifelong fascination with extraterrestrials reflects a similar longing, one that has animated his imagination for more than half a century.

Hugo also echoes this sentiment, reinforcing a shared wonder at the sheer vastness of the universe. Steven Spielberg famously plays on this exact philosophy as a running theme across his alien movies, making the sentiment entirely explicit in his sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day by constantly challenging humanity to look up and confront our place in a populated cosmos.

The movie is part political thriller, part science-fiction adventure, and partially a quasi-spiritual reflection. Disclosure Day explores the themes of truth, secrecy, trust, empathy, hope, faith, and our place in the cosmos. At the core of the movie, under all the action sequences, government conspiracies, and extraterrestrial encounters is a fundamental question: if nonhuman biological intelligences exist, what does that say about our place in the cosmos, our history, the beliefs of humans, and Christianity in particular?

This latter question is one that Spielberg appears to be most interested in exploring. In a series of interviews leading up to the release, he has been suggesting that the disclosure of the existence of nonhuman biological intelligences could produce a profound “ontological shock.” He has also remarked that “this will turn people’s reality upside down” about the knowledge of the existence of other intelligent self-aware life in the universe.

In another interview, Spielberg elaborated further: “If this truth were just known overnight, if the government announced, ‘Yes, we have been keeping this from you since 1947,’ that would mess up a lot of people.” He then framed the issue in explicitly theological terms: “What does this do to the fundamental beliefs that many of us have? Is God our God only on this planet, or is God a God for every system where there’s civilization, intelligent life, and even developing life?”

Undoubtedly, these are fascinating questions. But they are far older than Spielberg seems to appreciate. Long before Disclosure Day was even conceived of, Christian theologians, philosophers, scientists, novelists, and even exorcists have wrestled with the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligences and the implications their existence could have for the Christian faith. After watching the movie this past Saturday, I found myself concluding very differently. It edified my faith rather than raising any real doubts. Disclosure Day, if anything, raises a question that Christianity can answer with remarkable depth and flexibility, demonstrating our Faith’s explanatory power.

Reason and Love Among the Stars

Intriguingly, Spielberg presents an argument that strengthens the Christian worldview rather than weakening it. Throughout the movie, he portrays extraterrestrials as benevolent beings—ones that seek humanity’s flourishing—as opposed to hostile ones. The gifts bestowed on Daniel and Margaret mirror two of the fundamental attributes Christians have always associated with God Himself. What is of interest is that Spielberg separates these qualities into two distinct individuals and then reunites them in a common mission.

However, Christian theology understands reason and love as inseparable attributes of God. The God who creates a rational and comprehensible universe is the same God who enters human history through the Incarnation out of love for His creation. Reason without love becomes cold and impersonal; and love without reason becomes unintelligible and reducible to sentimentality. The two are fundamental aspects of God and the human person, even though they are manifested imperfectly in humans because of the Fall. And if intelligent nonhuman intelligences possess and seek to cultivate such virtues in others, it would not challenge Christianity but further illustrate that creation is ordered toward truth, goodness, and beauty. It functions as an argument of convergence that ultimately culminates in God’s creation, much like wings, fins, and legs throughout the animal kingdom.

Discernment, Not Fear

Another reason why Disclosure Day can strengthen one’s faith rather than weaken it is that Christianity has a series of resources to help evaluate extraordinary claims. Spielberg assumes that humanity’s proper response to the discovery of an extraterrestrial encounter should be one of acceptance; Christianity has always cautioned to approach such possible encounters with discernment.

In a recent essay, “Why We Have Never Been Alone,” I outline several possibilities to explain nonhuman intelligences—ranging from biological extraterrestrials created by God, to interdimensional beings, to the possibility that some phenomena may be best explained as preternatural or demonic deception. The latter is a view shared by a number of exorcists, including Fr. Dan Reehill, Fr. Carlos Martins, Fr. Gabriele Amorth, and Fr. Chad Ripperger, reminding us that “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, one of the Church’s best-known exorcists, has likewise noted similarities between certain alleged alien encounters and cases of spiritual oppression. Rossetti’s observations carry additional weight given his decades of pastoral and exorcistic experience.

As to whether these exorcists are correct or not is, in a sense, beside the point. It just demonstrates that Christianity has a framework to explain such phenomena, calling believers not to fear or credulity but rather to discernment: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).

The Common Pursuit of Truth

Nearly thirty years ago, through a markedly different plotline, the movie Contact explored similar themes. Although an atheist, Carl Sagan, who authored the book which was the basis for the film, was fascinated by questions about God, meaning, and transcendence. Through the character of Palmer Joss, a theologian and her love interest, Dr. Ellie Arroway has a quasi-religious experience that she cannot explain to others since it cannot be proven or disproven through conventional scientific means but must be accepted on faith, which is something that she concludes about God. Joss recognizes this when he challenges her to “prove” her love for her father.

In the end, Joss articulates one of the film’s deepest insights. When asked by a reporter whether the failure of Arroway’s machine represented “God’s rebuke to science,” he replies: “As a person of faith…I am bound by a different covenant than Dr. Arroway—but I believe our goal is one and the same: the pursuit of the truth.” In many respects, this captures what Disclosure Day misses. The discovery of a greater intelligence does not eliminate humanity’s deepest questions. It just brings them to the fore and intensifies them. Inevitably, the more inhabited the cosmos becomes, the more profound become the questions of purpose, meaning, truth, and, ultimately, God.

Aiming for the Wrong Target

I believe the greatest weakness to Spielberg’s argument is his assumption that Christianity would be somehow undermined or threatened by disclosure. We may ask: Why is it always that Christianity is expected to suffer an ontological crisis from any secular challenge? Why is not materialism, scientism, or atheism what would be undermined? I mean, the existence of extraterrestrial life magnifies the problem of life and consciousness for a worldview that does not have Mind as the ground of all being. If anything, disclosure poses a greater threat to non-theistic secular belief systems.

After all, Christianity already affirms the existence of nonhuman intelligences in the form of angels and demons. It has always been part of Church doctrine that God created both visible and invisible dimensions, which ultimately grounds the intelligibility and order of the cosmos in a rational Creator. Disclosure may raise some interesting questions, some of which are old and some of which are new, but it does nothing to threaten Christianity. I am convinced that these realities pose a greater threat to philosophical materialism than Christianity or any religion that views God as a sovereign creator.

Interestingly, the concluding message of the revealed extraterrestrial is not one of conquest or domination but of “listening.” At minimum, this suggests that communication, understanding, and openness to truth, as opposed to fear, are  conducive to human flourishing rather than opposed to it. Some viewers may interpret the message as implying that humanity requires salvation from its own self-destructive tendencies, as seen with countless wars and the looming nuclear threat, and that this salvation may come through a more advanced extraterrestrial intelligence. Christians, however, recognize that no created being, extraterrestrial, or otherwise can provide the ultimate salvation that comes through Christ alone.

Throughout the movie, there is a recurring message: “Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.” On this particular point, Spielberg and Christianity couldn’t agree more. There is no reason for Christians to fear the existence of extraterrestrials or any other future discovery about the cosmos. In essence, truth has nothing to fear from truth. The most profound disclosure is not that we may one day discover other intelligences but that Truth itself entered the cosmic history in the person of Jesus Christ.