JONESING FOR FILMS

Digger is one of the most hyped and talked about movies of 2026. It is also one of the more polarizing movies in recent memory, with fervent critics and supporters. It is also one of the rare big risks of Tom Cruise’s career in the last two decades, when he has rarely ventured out of the comfort of his action blockbuster safe space. Unfortunately, Digger may send him running

Cruise portrays the titular Digger, a filthy rich, 3rd generation oilman who precipitates a global catastrophe because of the corners he cut in his business practices. With his chief environmental scientist, Dr. Ganesh (Riz Ahmed), in tow, Digger puts the concerns for his ailing cat aside and meets with President Compson (John Goodman), and his staff about cleaning up his mess and averting disaster. Digger got them into this mess, and Digger has got to get them out.

Digger comes at a fascinating inflection point in Cruise’s career, entering his 60s and his physical appearance is just starting to age him out of the leading action blockbuster roles that have been a staple of his for the last 40 years. While Cruise and other actors like Brad Pitt are defying the odds, father time is still undefeated, so Digger is a chance for Cruise to dip his toes into the water on diversifying his acting portfolio for the future. Working with accomplished directors like Inarritu is a smart move. Unfortunately, he’s catching Inarritu at exactly the wrong time in the director’s career.

Cruise is actually quite good as Digger, a larger than life businessman who believes he can sell anyone on his BS because he believes it so thoroughly. Even when Digger tells the truth, there is a calculated reason for it. There’s an extended scene where Digger addresses a forum of European leaders outraged over his actions, and he tell them the cold, hard, uncomfortable truth. That scene is actually reminiscent of Nicholson’s “You need me on that wall” speech in justifying the code red in A Few Good Men, with him basically telling them that he is a necessary evil that must exist because of their greed and their behavior and their demands. It’s the type of antihero speechifying that any actor would love to sink their teeth into.

Cruise does a tremendous job disappearing into the makeup to make him look like an overweight old man, balding and with gray hair, who sees himself as a world bestriding colossus who is in the twilight of his life. Riz Ahmed is also very enjoyable as the scientist Dr. Ganesh who is mild-mannered but finds his voice as the movie progresses, becoming more strident and willing to confront Digger as the global stakes become greater. Dr. Ganesh becomes more fueled by righteous anger, leading him to speak up.

Unfortunately, I find little else in this film worth recommending. In fact, if left me shaking my head and rolling my eyes the further we moved along. I found Inarritu’s last film, Bardo, an insufferable mess desperately in need of an editor and someone to reign in his indulgences. There is less of a need for an editor this time, but the need to reign in his indulgences remains. As does the insufferability.

Digger is intended to be a biting satire that shines a critical eye on present moment the world finds itself in. A billionaire who is convinced that he is God’s gift to the world and the sun rises and sets on his time. A buffoonish president who is surrounded by lickspittles and sycophants telling him that anything and everything he says is ordained by God. A scientist who has the answers and is openly derided because he is Indian and the truth is inconvenient to those around him.

All of this and more is done with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the viewer. It is all obvious, it is all loud, it is all over the top. And I do not put that at the feet of the actors. In fact, some of the other supporting performances I found quite good too. And there were a few scenes that elicited a chuckle or two out of me. But most of it comes across, at least to me, as preening by the director. Not just showing off, but putting a big neon sign up pointing to the fact that he is showing off. “Hey, everybody, look how clever this movie is that I made!” There is a self-satisfaction element to it all that I found very unappealing.

There is also a big reveal about 45 minutes into the film that changes the perspective and what the film is really about. Without getting too much into spoilers, Digger is a film that feels like it is in conversation with one of Inarritu’s previous films, Birdman; to me, it felt like the conceit of the movie is actually the inverse of Birdman. The film opens with a sunrise over a pristine country estate of rolling hills and fields, a brook winding through. It’s beautiful, but it also looks very painterly and artificial. The conceit of the film explains why that is.

As the movie progressed, I couldn’t shake the notion that the conceit of the movie is, again, Inarritu saying, “See? Look how clever this is!” Rather than thinking it was clever, it came across more and more to me like it was a conceit that was designed to shield the film from criticism, that people couldn’t take exception to the broad satire or the characterizations because it’s all happening for a reason and it’s supposed to be like that. It’s manipulative and too clever by half.

I wanted to like Digger. I’ve been a fan of the Mission: Impossible franchise and some of the other action movies that Tom Cruise has put out for so many years. I was excited to see him taking a risk by playing a character that didn’t feel like a variation on the same type of character he always plays. I absolve Tom Cruise of the mess that is Digger.

Instead, my dissatisfaction rests almost entirely with the director. Digger is a Russian nesting doll of obvious and broad satire. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu seems to think that adding 4th, 5th, and 6th walls for his movies to break absolves him from a overcooked plot and showing off how clever he thinks he is. I appreciate the spirit behind creative big swings and unconventional storytelling, but to follow up Bardo with this, I can’t help but think that Inarritu has lost the thread.