10 TV Shows and Movies Like “Disclosure Day” That You Should Watch Next.
Steven Spielberg’s latest film performed quite well at the box office, and while it’s not exactly an indie film, it continues a recent streak of non-franchise films (notably “Obsession” and “Behind the Scenes “) that compete well with projects like “He-Man” and the new “Star Wars” films. These films are all fun, but it’s nice to see some light at the end of the tunnel of franchises.
Best approached with minimal prior knowledge, Disclosure Day is Spielberg’s latest take on the impact of alien existence on human civilization. While War of the Worlds suggests they’ll try to destroy us but perhaps unite us, Disclosure Day is more reminiscent of Close Encounters of the Third Kind , where the real threats are human greed and paranoia. Disclosure Day received good reviews, though not without mixed reviews—personally, I really enjoyed it. In that spirit, let’s consider other films and TV series that delve into the dark worlds of alien conspiracies.
No (2022)
Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer play brother and sister who tend a horse ranch in rural California and find themselves caught up in… something? The film is incredibly original, though often perplexing. The tagline, calling it a “neo-Western sci-fi horror film,” says it all, and it may be Jordan Peele’s finest work. When the Haywood farm is attacked by an otherworldly entity, the siblings who run it decide to make the best of the situation by capturing the events on film. Shot in the spirit of Spielberg, the film explores our reactions to the unusual and subverts expectations at almost every turn. Watch Noon Netflix or rent it on Prime Video.
Endless Night (2019)
Director Andrew Patterson makes a stunning debut with this film, which takes us back to the 1950s, to a small New Mexico town on the night of a big basketball game. Young local DJ Everett (Jake Horovitch) and his best friend, the local switchboard operator Faye (Sierra McCormick), find themselves caught up in a series of strange events that begin when Everett’s show is interrupted by a strange signal. The premise is replete with UFO movie clichés, but that’s both the point and the not-so-point: the film boasts phenomenal visual style and makes the typical problems of an alien invasion deeply personal for this small town. Watch “The Expanse of Night” on Prime Video .
Contact (1997)
An adaptation of scientist Carl Sagan’s (brilliant) only novel, Contact follows Dr. Eleanor Arroway, a SETI researcher played by Jodie Foster, as she tracks an extraterrestrial signal containing a sequence of prime numbers and tens of thousands of pages of encrypted data, which ultimately turns out to be a set of blueprints—but for what? As the message stirs political and religious upheaval, the film emphasizes the importance of science while acknowledging the perspectives of people like Matthew McConaughey’s Palmer Joss, a well-meaning religious leader who nonetheless clashes with Ellie over the signal’s broader meaning. The tensions between hard facts and faith in the face of scientific revelation resonate throughout Disclosure Day , as do questions about how healthy our reactions would be to real aliens. Watch Contact on Prime Video .
The X-Files (1993–2018)
The X-Files, the pinnacle of alien conspiracy theory, has provided us with blissful paranoia for decades. Sure, after 11 seasons, two movies, and a couple of spinoffs, Chris Carter’s classic series never quite gets to the bottom of it (we’ll probably never know exactly what it was all about), but that hardly matters: the questions are almost always more satisfying than the answers; Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny have incredible on-screen chemistry, and we happily follow them into the darkness. Watch The X-Files on Disney+ and Hulu .
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Spielberg certainly learned a thing or two from prolific director Robert Wise, who mashed up genres to create one of the best sci-fi films of the 1950s (or, really, of all time), largely eschewing monsters and spaceships in favor of this more thoughtful thriller. Here, an alien visitor (Michael Rennie) arrives on Earth in peace, but is soon gunned down by American forces eager to keep Klaatu’s knowledge secret. Escaping, he decides to live among us for a while before delivering a message of hope—along with a tough-but-fair attitude. Watch The Day the Earth Stood Still on Prime Video .
Fire in the Sky (1993)
Few films since Fire in the Sky have seriously explored the idea of alien abduction; perhaps it’s an inevitable side effect of a booming film culture, with new conspiracy theories making the UFO cults of yesteryear seem simply outdated. This film, starring D.B. Sweeney, is based on the true story (just take it for granted) of Travis Walton, an Arizona logger who went missing for five days in 1975 after encountering a mysterious object and a beam of light—all witnessed by terrified coworkers who fled the scene. The film’s documentary approach won’t be for everyone, but it treats Walton’s account of the events as fact (before embellishing them for the sake of entertainment); while much of the film dwells on the aftermath of the abduction, the climactic journey inside the spacecraft is eerie and powerful. The film lacks the larger questions of meaning that Spielberg raises, but he understands that alien stories are meaningless unless they engage personal experience. Watch Fire in the Sky on Prime Video.
Roswell (1999–2002)
Look, alien conspiracies aren’t just for middle-aged FBI agents and aspiring meteorologists; if you live in Roswell, New Mexico, the whole creepy thing will catch up with you in high school—at least that’s what this cult classic claims. In the pilot, seemingly ordinary teenager Max Evans (Jason Behr) intervenes when Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby) is injured while working at her parents’ diner. He saves her life, though not quite as ordinary, leading to the discovery that he is one of four alien-human hybrids who crashed on Earth in 1947. Several films and TV shows mentioned here reference the legendary Roswell disaster, but this series introduces us to the aliens decades later in a gripping teen soap opera. Buy Roswell on Apple TV .
Honeymoon (2014)
When it comes to alien movies, I usually gravitate toward the “humans are the real problem” type, but cinematic history is littered with brilliant horror films in which the aliens are actually bad. Leigh Janiak ( Fear Street ) makes her feature directorial debut with this film, which blends sci-fi with body horror in the story of a young couple (Rose Leslie and Harry Treadaway) whose relationship changes dramatically after Bee encounters strange lights in the woods. The Body Snatchers -style premise isn’t groundbreaking, but the direction is stylish, and the narrative relies on a gripping horror subtext: what if the person you’ve dedicated your life to suddenly starts acting like a completely different person? The alien-induced transformation of the main character in “Disclosure Day ” is at least as surprising as it is terrifying, but “Honeymoon” is much more about the horror of it all. Rent “Honeymoon” on Prime Video.
Districts (2026 — )
In this new Netflix series, a talented and recognizable cast (Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, and Geena Davis, among others) faces a series of eerie mysteries in their seemingly idyllic yet utterly secluded retirement community—the atmosphere created by the charming Wild West-style apartment complex is reminiscent of Spielberg’s 1980s works. Without giving away too many details about either “Boroughs” or “Discovery Day,” I will say that both series share a common web of conspiracy and eerie mysteries that intertwine in remarkably similar ways. Imagine a mix of “Cocoon” and ” Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” but with a more terrifying twist.Watch “Boroughs” on Netflix.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
This point is so obvious it almost doesn’t need to be mentioned, but it would be a bit rude to gloss over it: Disclosure Day is by no means a remake or sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind , but it feels like a continuation of the alien debate Steven Spielberg began nearly 50 years ago—a conversation that runs through E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , War of the Worlds , and everyone’s least favorite Indiana Jones movie. As always, he’s interested in extraterrestrial life, but more so in the impact that knowledge of aliens will have on us. The epic story of impending first contact boils down for Spielberg and his team to a blue-collar electrician, a three-year-old, and a French scientist trying to understand what their encounters mean for these (mostly) ordinary people confronted with something mystical. Watch Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Peacock or rent on Prime Video .