Disclosure Day

Vampire Owl: We should also call for full disclosure of past events.

Vampire Bat: There have been no relevant events in the castle for some time.

Vampire Owl: Relevant or not, there are few things we should all know.

Vampire Bat: Dracula Castle is an open and free world.

Vampire Owl: Yet, it holds many secrets.

Vampire Bat: You can always know them in detail if you just ask Uncle Dracula.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein has warned about not asking too much.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein is not someone we should follow.

Vampire Owl: Well, he is Frankenstein the most awarded scientist.

Vampire Bat: He has awarded too much for his fake inventions and discoveries.

[Gets a ghee podi idli and three cups of Kodaikanal tea].

What is the movie about? :: Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson) finds herself kidnapped and tied up by strangers and she wonders how she has reached this situation of bondage. It is later revealed that her boyfriend and cybersecurity specialist named Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) had stolen top secret material from his employer, a secret United States government organization working privately, known as the Wardex Corporation. Daniel had stolen an artifact of extraterrestrial technology along with many years of documents and hard drives which have footage of extraterrestrial encounters dating to the Roswell incident which had a conspiracy theory related to the United States military recovering a crashed extraterrestrial spacecraft. While many UFO proponents claimed that the Roswell debris really had an alien spacecraft, Daniel finally finds himself with proof about some of it. Daniel threatens the people form organization with the extraterrestrial device he possesses and manages to save Jane and escape.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As Daniel and Jane try to hide somewhere one would least expect them to be, they approach Sister Maura (Elizabeth Marvel), the Abbess of the Monastery of Saint Clare of the Dawn, as Jane reveals that she was part of the novitiate to become a nun, much to the surprise of Daniel. She adds that she lost her calling and not her faith, as Daniel reveals that he has information which should go to the public and should not remain hidden for long. Jane has her doubts, but trusts him on the same, and decides to leave with him to a safehouse on the very next day, even though the nuns tell her that she can stay there as much as she wants. At the same time, NBC meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) is preparing for work when a northern cardinal bird flies into her home and seems to talk to her. The incident stimulates a psychic ability in Margaret to get into people’s thoughts and also speak in languages she has never learned, with her starting with Russian and Korean, the least possible languages she could ever speak.

And what more is to happen here against all odds with twists? :: Getting late to her office while being stopped by the police, she gets directly to a live weather broadcast, and begins speaking in an unknown language, and collapsing right after delivering the words. This alerts the Wardex Corporation which listen to the same words and they send their own people posing as FBI to the hospital where she is admitted. Surprisingly, she is able to identify them as not real FBI and escape with her intuitions. Daniel and Jane reach at the safehouse arranged by the group of people who intend to reveal the truth to humanity. He explains to Jane that Wardex has been experimenting on extraterrestrial creatures who were captured in the last few years and are reverse engineering their technology – he considers himself to be among the chosen people who are to reveal the truth about human brutality on aliens. After watching the clip of Margaret speaking the extraterrestrial language, he understands it in English, surprising him. Now, both Daniel and Margaret intend to find each other to solve all of these, but the corporation has other plans.

The defence of Disclosure Day :: The movie sets up the narrative really well, and has us interested in the movie which establishes some mystery in the beginning and provides us the feeling that something big is sure to follow. The first few sequences had elevated the mood and had us ready to go through the whole thing while feeling full tension, never taking our eyes off the screen. There are some fine visuals and nice sound effects to go with the same, and the feeling of mystery is well-supported by the same, as we keep having the feeling that the paranormal is always around, and the situation created there by something extra-terrestrial uses the effects so well. There is a lot here to explore, starting from corporate opacity, journalistic integrity and whistleblowing to the spiritual side itself, with more than one method provided to look at divinity and morality while facing unexpected situations. Emily Blunt steals the show with her performance too, especially in the beginning stages. Eve Hewson does the same, and her character is in such a multiple level complication that we feel the same so well. Josh O’Connor does a fine job too.

The claws of flaw :: There are too many whistleblowers, journalists, cyber security experts, corporate executives and highly underused personal relationships leaving so many character arcs feeling rushed beyond repair. From the half point, the movie starts a certain amount of drag, with we finding more dialogues than action, and some of them just seemingly stretching the content to that run-time which was never really suitable here. There seems to be so many moments without which the movie could have done well enough, and we cannot keep ourselves from thinking that it has been over-complicated. Then there is that ending which does not really end, and keeps us wondering what it was about, and we still cannot feel that there is a chance for a sequel. The loss of strength as the movie nears the end is a nail right on the head of the alien flick which has been considering itself intellectually and morally superior. Even though we had fallen in love with the movie too early, it only takes half of its journey to decrease our love for the same – the struggle feels real from then.

How it finishes :: Disclosure Day goes on a little bit too long a journey to go through its content which is not much to elongate to its present situation, but its serious way of dealing with the subject has us interested from the first moment itself. The ups and downs of the movie are so much that we feel that the journey is through a highland-lowland combination, driving a slow-moving sedan which is not that easy to steer with roads having too many twists and turns with heavy traffic and not that width. The way in which characters are thrown in there without that much of a development reiterates the same. But that premise is so much interesting to not choose to travel in the path, as keep thinking, and also wondering about what we come across in a divergent way. One might just need to make sure that that enough time is reserved for the same, as watching it in one sitting might need more attention and patience. Then we remember that there is no overdose of anything, and we have aliens coming in as much realistic as they can, for we have alien rights mode activated as if it is about human rights. Jio Hotstar seems to have this one running well in the OTT mode.

Release date: 12 June 2026
Running time: 145 minutes
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colin Firth, Eve Hewson, Colman Domingo, Wyatt Russell, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Elizabeth Marvel

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

7th Day

7thdayy

The 7th Day significance :: A name which signifies a special day and the tagline which supports the same “The seventh day on which God rested after creating the world in six days”, this was always going to be a different experience. God didn’t need to rest, but he rested on the seventh day which became the Shabbat of Jews, and it is up-to this movie’s release to see how all that would relate to a thriller movie such as this (but it turns out that I thought too much about it). Prithviraj Sukumaran himself says that there has not been any other movie which he has been involved this much, and that only reason that there is no trailer for this movie (there is only the teaser) is because he doesn’t want anyone to have a prior idea or design about this movie which is going to be innovative in many ways. Read more about the same from his official page on Facebook. For anyone who have watched and liked either Mumbai Police or Memories starring the same actor, this was going to be a must watch, and that includes me who considers the latter to be the better movie and among the best of the year. These two movie publicize this movie more than any page or advertisement that can be created – why need anything more?

What is it about? :: David Abraham I.P.S. (Prithviraj Sukumaran) accidently meets Shaan (Vinay Forrt) and Vinu (Anu Mohan) as his jeep hits their motorbike. As he comes across Shaan again and the news spread that Vinu has committed suicide, David feels that there was something strange about the whole thing, and it was evident from their talks and action last night. He goes to meet Shaan who tells him that they have been in trouble for a very long time, and were hunted by the henchmen of a strange and mostly unknown enemy known to many as Christopher Moriarty. They have been trying to run and hide from them in vain, and he was actually separated from his friends before the accident happened. His other friends, Jessy (Janani Iyer), Aby (Tovino Thomas) and Cyril (Praveen Prem) are nowhere to be found and he suspects that they are in deep trouble or possibly dead. David decides to help him and goes out on an investigation by himself, only to uncover strange truths about them, and come to the realization that Shaan might be the only one among the gang who is telling the actual truth. But David is not ready to lose this battle and certainly not the war. His icons are people from the history who lost, but he always plays to win; he doesn’t mind if he tries and losses.

The defence of 7th Day :: The centre of all defence of this movie stands Prithviraj Sukumaran, more powerful than ever. He has the screen presence which makes most of the other things in the movie not that significant. Whenever he is there, everything is under control, as he remains the captain throughout the journey of this ship. Other than that, movie has a nice suspense maintained throughout, and is not without thrills. There is a lot of mystery feeling that the environment of the movie gives. The feeling goes on throughout the movie, especially when our protagonist is on the investigation. The style and lighting in the movie is special, and the darkness that runs throughout the movie helps its mood a lot. There is always something about the inception and development of a dark world in a thriller movie, and this is no exception. We are given the feeling that there is always more than what meets the eye for each character, and even David Abraham himself is no exception, as we see how he changes and reacts according to the situations. There are some stylish dialogues too, some of them which can stay on our minds for at least some time.

The claws of flaw :: 7th Day is a lot like Memories and Mumbai Police, the two other police stories featuring Prithviraj. But the problem is when this one doesn’t give its protagonist to be more of a vulnerable man like in those two, and from the latter, it inherits not just the dark shades, but also the drag which turns out to be rather unfortunate. This also has an investigation going like Memories, but comes nowhere close to that movie in the script or the climax. The occasional drag is a let down, and there are times when the movie becomes less of an investigative thriller and more of a crime drama – something to be expected when the whole thing is related to policeman on suspension and a group of youngsters on the run from a web of crime lead by a ruthless guy whose last name comes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s greatest known creation, as Professor Moriarty gives it to this one, Christopher Moriarty – I would like to think not much about it, and imagine not about them being related. The chain of events begin on Christmas, so may be they chose to have Christopher as the first name. That should have been avoided, and just another usual name could have done; for villains are not known for their names, but for their actions. Any more talk about that name shall shatter the suspense, and lets not venture more into the same.

Performers of the Soul :: Prithviraj’s real beginning with a police role picks up with Vargam, and that spark returned with Mumbai Police, which was incredibly powered with Memories – the two investigative thrillers of last year which had him in stunning performances, the second being something which was to be appreciated by everyone. He slowly moved away from that kind of police role which Suresh Gopi used to do and gain success, and he himself did with not that much appreciation. Instead, he has come up with so much variety in the same, accepted roles in which he could prove his wonderful acting skills again and again. 7th Day is no exception. From Solomon Joseph to Anthony Moses, and Sam Alex to David Abraham, the fourth memorable police role comes to light here, even as you can surely ask the question if he will come last among the four. Well, Prithviraj steals the show, and this movie is so much about his character – the best thing about the movie. The youngsters are okay with their performances, but as expected, Vinay Forrt stands out as the best of them all, followed by Tovino Thomas. Janani Iyer has the least to do among them, and Joy Mathew has a small, but good role.

Soul exploration :: Welcome to the world of another dark investigative thriller. Unlike Memories, this one leaves much less for the soul. Somehow, I was able to guess the villain as well as the main culprit in the movie, and there were two, and I guessed them both correct – that should have just an incident by accident, and you should give it a try guessing. I was also able to bring up the final twist correctly, something which was rather impossible with Memories and slightly possible with Mumbai Police. The first half’s inherent slowness might have been the main thing which hurt its possibilities of being special, and the second half never really manages to make things faster. The flashback scenes were to be without Prithviraj and they also hurt the soul. It need a lot more of life, something which Mumbai Police partially provided with the negative traits of the character and Memories with the powerful presence of a psycho killer and the memories of the protagonist himself. This one doesn’t have such a boost. We expect much more, but we do not get it. But we are indeed satisfied by what we get, and coming from a debutant director, this is very good.

How it finishes :: This is a week of too many movies – the Vishu holiday which gets extended due to Dr. Amedkar Jayanthi and Sunday with just a day separating them from the Maundy Thursday. With the rush of the summer vacations from school kids and college students, there might not be any movie which can’t be a hit unless it does something really stupid. Gangster‘s inability to impress any kind of audience except for the fans and other concerned groups who say it is good for the obvious reasons, will surely help the other movies which release on the very next day a lot – 7th Day, Ring Master and Polytechnic. Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier gets an extended long run, and with Divergent and Rio 2 ready, and as some other movies refuse to go way including lesser Bollywood releases, this will be a nice weekend for the three Malayalam movies which released today. The families with kids might be looking forward to Bhoothnath Returns too. The Easter week is also coming up, and with 2 States and Transcendence waiting to pounce, it is the best to make most money this week, and with some good opinions, an extended run is a certainty. Now this one has less shows, but that is expected to increase in the upcoming days. 7th Day has the upper-hand as far the opinions are concerned.

Release date: 12th April 2014
Running time: 134 minutes
Directed by: Syam Dhar
Starring: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Janani Iyer, Vinay Forrt, Anu Mohan, Tovino Thomas, Praveen Prem, Joy Mathew, T. G. Ravi, Yog Japee

7thday copy

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.