Spielberg returns to sci-fi with 'El día de la revelación', a film rooted in a real 2004 UFO encounter
The director's latest feature, starring Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor, draws on the 2004 USS Nimitz incident in the Arabian Sea and questions government secrecy around extraterrestrial life.
Steven Spielberg revisits the alien obsession that shaped some of his most celebrated work with 'El día de la revelación', which opens in Spanish cinemas on 12 June 2026. The film, a blend of chase thriller and cosmic drama, arrives at a moment when public discussion about unidentified anomalous phenomena has moved from fringe forums to Congressional hearings.
The plot: a cybersecurity expert and a weather presenter collide
Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor) is a cybersecurity specialist who possesses evidence that intelligent extraterrestrial life has been visiting Earth and that governments have concealed the truth. Margaret (Emily Blunt) is a television weather presenter who suddenly begins having vivid psychic visions and speaking in unknown tongues. Their paths converge as they both race away from shadowy forces, carrying a truth they believe belongs to everyone.
Now I am more convinced than when I made Close Encounters of the Third Kind that we are not the only intelligent civilization in the universe.
The screenplay was written by David Koepp, a veteran of the genre who has also penned 'Jurassic Park' and 'Mission: Impossible'. Cinematography comes from Janusz Kamiński, a long‑time Spielberg collaborator, and the score was composed by John Williams.
Real-world inspiration: the 2004 USS Nimitz encounter
Spielberg has confirmed that a declassified Pentagon case fed the story. On 10 November 2004, the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and the guided missile cruiser USS Princeton, deployed in the Arabian Sea, detected radar signals consistent with an unidentified flying object. The contacts reappeared and vanished over the following days, and military jets were scrambled to intercept them. No definitive explanation has ever been given.
This 79-year campaign of terror and lies must end!
The character's line references the span since the Roswell incident of 1947, which sparked the modern UFO narrative in the United States. In May 2025 the Trump administration declassified an initial set of 162 documents on unidentified anomalous phenomena, and in September 2025 senior defence and intelligence officials testified before Congress on the national security implications of these reports.
- USS Nimitz and USS Princeton detect anomalous radar signals in the Arabian Sea.
- Steven Spielberg's 'El día de la revelación' premieres in Spanish cinemas.
Critical response splits between awe and disappointment
Early reviews diverge sharply. The New York Times describes the film as a fast‑paced sci‑fi fantasy that rarely disappoints, noting that its maximalism "turned out to be coherent and strategic" and that the picture swings between comedy, suspense and sober reflection. Other outlets are less impressed. El Confidencial calls the result "erratic, at times bewildering, and sentimental rather than sensitive", arguing that the film prioritises family‑adventure tropes over the weight of its subject. El País's review is even harsher, describing the pacing as "tedious, without rhythm or the slightest charm."
An obsession that spans decades
'El día de la revelación' is Spielberg's fourth direct engagement with extraterrestrial visitors, following 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977), 'E.T. the Extra‑Terrestrial' (1982) and 'War of the Worlds' (2005). Even his teenage amateur film 'Firelight' (1964) revolved around alien visitations. The new work, he has said, is less about the creatures themselves than about how humanity — and its governments — would confront the knowledge that we are not alone. The film does not aim to terrify; it tries, instead, to capture the human side of the extraordinary.
