A deer, a fox and a cardinal appear repeatedly in Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi film, “Disclosure Day.” What is the significance of these mysterious creatures? Why do they only appear to Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor’s characters? And why is it okay that the audience can clearly see that they’re computer-generated and not real?

WARNING: PLOT SPOILERS FOR DISCLOSURE DAY

Margaret and the Cardinal

Meteorologist Margaret Fairchild (Blunt) is running late for her job at the local TV station when a red bird, a cardinal, flies through the open window. Transfixed, she stares at it as it appears to be sending her a message only she can hear. After it flies away, her musician boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell) is astonished when she starts speaking fluent Russian. When he asks her to explain, she laughs off the idea that she knows any Russian and heads out as if nothing unusual had happened.

On the way to work, she is pulled over by a cop (Jim Parrack of “911: Lone Star”) for speeding. Somehow, she knows all about the fight he had with his wife and urges him to buy her some chocolates and apologize. The stunned policeman lets her go without a ticket.

At the station, instead of giving her live weather report, she begins speaking in a strange language that no one can understand. Then she collapses. We later learn that she conveyed the message, “Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.”

Daniel and the Deer

Meanwhile, tech expert Daniel Kellner (O’Connor) is on the run after stealing highly classified videos and a powerful psychic tool — one of three — from Wardex, the shadowy agency who has been covering up the existence of aliens for decades.

Guided by colleague Hugo Wakefield (Colman Domingo), he and his girlfriend Jane (Eve Hewson), are led to an isolated farm house to hide out. Jane is surprised to see a herd of deer gazing intently at them from the backyard. Daniel has a more unusual response, as if he’s seen this before.

How Margaret and Daniel are connected

Besides their animal visitors, we realize that Margaret and Daniel are connected when Daniel is the only one who can understand Margaret’s on-air message. Just as Margaret didn’t realize she was speaking Russian, Daniel thinks he is hearing her speak English.

Margaret is also psychically connected to Daniel and knows exactly where he is when he’s captured by Wardex chief Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth, in full villain mode). She rushes to his rescue and the two go on the run together, Jane having fled from Scanlon in a different direction with one of the devices.

Why the aliens appear animals

When they find Hugo, everything becomes clear: Both Margaret and Daniel were contacted by aliens when they were children. In order not to alarm them, the aliens chose to appear as a red cardinal, a deer and a fox, who lead them to a fairy tale house in the woods, something Margaret dreamed about her entire life but never understood.

In the flashback in young Margaret’s bedroom, we see a mobile of red cardinals hanging from the ceiling: The aliens chose an animal she already loved and felt safe with.

Leaning close to the children, the deer, bird and fox impart their alien wisdom. For Margaret, that knowledge is largely untapped until the cardinal reappears at the beginning of the film. (Worth noting that she is wearing a cardinal-red dress during this encounter and when she goes on the air and unknowingly broadcasts the alien message around the world.)

The childhood visitation dramatically altered Daniel’s life: He became a math genius who could break any code, including their alien language.

Why the CGI animals aren’t all that convincing

Fans were concerned at early glimpses of the animals, correctly noting that they were very obviously fake. The otherworldy appearance of the creatures makes more sense when we learn they are simply the form that the aliens take in order not to alarm young Margaret and Daniel. As Daniel sensed at the farm house, there was something “off” about the deer, although he didn’t immediately understand what it was.

When the aliens finally appear

After the disturbing classified footage of the government’s encounters and interrogations with the aliens is shared live with the entire world, the aliens no longer need to appear as animals. In the film’s finale Margaret and Daniel finally get to meet an elderly alien in their true form.

“Disclosure Day” is now playing in theaters.