Digger (2026)

A lot of film critics are experiencing near-orgasmic schadenfreude over the high-profile commercial tanking of Digger. There’s no question that director Alejandro González Iñárritu is a polarizing filmmaker, despite—or perhaps largely because of—his two Academy Awards for Best Director (Birdman and The Revenant). To be sure, there is plenty to critique: Iñárritu’s movies can be audacious and self-indulgent to the point of vexation. His latest effort pairs those tendencies with Hollywood’s most celebrated (and often inscrutable) megastar, and the resulting lashing from reviewers has been unusually brutal. 

Yes, Digger is shrill, didactic and as broad as the Mississippi River. In taking aim at global warming and our national penchant for whistling past the graveyard, its satire (the influence of forebears like Dr. Strangelove and Network is unmistakable) is more interesting than it is funny. Some critics have also labeled the film hypocritical for sounding the alarm about climate change when its production reportedly cost north of $160 million. By that logic, no art in the public marketplace has the right to target the travails of capitalism. An expensive movie isn’t exempt from scrutiny of its own environmental footprint, but that hardly disqualifies it from examining the crisis. 

For all its flaws, however, Digger is strange, nervy, often fascinating and more than a little urgent. 

Tom Cruise steps away from the action-star roles that have defined most of his 21st-century work. Here he plays brash oil tycoon “Digger” Rockwell, the richest man in the world, whose disregard for an environmental threat at a drilling site in Greenland leads to worldwide catastrophe. The rapidly escalating disaster even spurs President Compson (John Goodman) and his cabinet to make an emergency visit to Digger’s mansion. 

It’s difficult to say much more without spoiling the film’s multiple surprises—and if you have any inkling of seeing it, do yourself a solid and stay away from spoilers.

Cruise might be the main attraction, but Digger is an ensemble affair. Riz Ahmed is excellent as environmental safety chief Dr. Nirav Ganesh, the movie’s sole voice of sanity. In a picture where many of the performers appear to be playing to the balcony seats, Ahmed finds the farce in Ganesh’s growing exasperation without setting your teeth on edge. Goodman is less successful playing the president as a bug-eyed Muppet. Jesse Plemons is memorable in a pivotal role, while top-shelf actors Michael Stuhlbarg and Sandra Hüller are largely wasted in underwritten parts. 

It remains to be seen whether Cruise, transformed by prosthetics and heavy makeup into an aging oil baron, will snag an Oscar nomination. His performance is boisterous but undeniably mesmerizing, even when it is over the top. And it is often over the top.

Cruise is at his most spellbinding when Digger addresses an assembly of international leaders to explain why life as we know it is about to turn to shit. Iñárritu employs one of his signature long, uninterrupted takes to capture Digger in all his blustery defensiveness. Impending doom is his fault, the oilman concedes, but no one in his audience—no one—is willing to make the sacrifices needed to stave off global warming. People want their cellphones charged and Amazon products delivered to their door. They love their cheap energy. “You want freedom!” bellows Digger. “Freedom to bask in the comfort of your unsustainable lives!” 

Admittedly, this isn’t exactly a revelatory sentiment for any moviegoer who has bothered to notice the state of today’s world. That’s OK. What else is there to say? As Digger later tells Ganesh, “When all else fails, you hit ‘em with the truth.” Besides, the screenwriting team of Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman has crafted a punchy monologue that Cruise delivers with zeal.

In the end, Digger offers a lot to chew on. What is the role of art, if any, in dark times? Does momentary catharsis even matter? Is Earth hurtling toward an unavoidable apocalypse? Is it already there?

I don’t know the answers, but I do know I want to see Digger again.

One final note: If you see it, stay through the credits.