“Digger” is a new black comedy and drama by Alejandro González Iñárritu starring Tom Cruise in the lead role. The film began its international release on 30 September 2026, and in the US — on 2 October.
The running time is about 2 hours 9 minutes, and let’s say right away: it was precisely because of the running time that we ultimately lowered our rating a little.
At the center of the story is Digger Rockwell, an eccentric Texas billionaire and oil magnate who is called perhaps the most powerful man in the world.
His company becomes the cause of a large-scale environmental catastrophe in Greenland. And now Digger must prove to everyone — and, it seems, above all to himself — that he is not a destroyer of the world, but a man capable of saving that world.
The President of the United States, played by John Goodman, gets involved, along with scientists, the military, advisers, oilmen — and a completely mad attempt begins by one man to force nature to submit to his plan.
Tom Cruise, whom at first you may not recognize
A story in itself is Cruise’s transformation (gaya.one — 1; gaya.one — 2; gaya.one —3; gaya.one —4)
The 64-year-old actor has here been virtually taken apart and put back together again. Complex prosthetic makeup, appliances, altered facial features, thinning grey hair, stoutness and a thick Southern accent.
As a result, at times we are not looking at Tom Cruise at all.
And here, perhaps, we will part ways with many critics.
We liked Cruise very much.
Yes, his Digger is excessive.
Loud.
Overconfident.
Eccentric beyond all possibility.
Sometimes you really want to literally “kill”. 😄
And a few minutes later — for some reason you already want to root for him.
It was precisely this shift in attitude toward the hero that seemed to us one of the most interesting things in the film.
The world’s first army tries to defeat… a glacier
If we retell the beginning of the film very briefly, without serious spoilers, it will go something like this:
the world’s first army tries to fight nature. That is, a glacier.
And this idea alone perfectly explains the level of absurdity of what is happening.
Military meetings here periodically turn into almost a farce. People accustomed to managing money, armies, companies and information suddenly find themselves facing an enemy who simply does not care who is president here, a billionaire or a general.
Nature does not take part in negotiations.
And this is where many of the dialogues are genuinely funny.
What works especially well are those moments when the characters begin to resemble familiar types from contemporary politics a little too closely: the manner of speech, the desire to control the information agenda, the certainty that any problem can be solved with a loud statement or a pretty story.
But “Digger” is not at all the film it seems at first
And this is where the most interesting part begins.
For the first forty minutes or so, one might decide that what we have before us is simply a very expensive, very loud and very dark political-ecological satire.
And then the film begins to change.
And closer to the middle it becomes clear that Iñárritu is no longer interested only in the climate, the oil companies and power.
He begins to ask entirely different questions.
Who are we inside our own roles?
Where does the person end and the image he performs before others begin?
Can one spend a whole life managing the story about oneself — and one day realize that you no longer know who you are?
Can art change reality?
And, more broadly: if we are all constantly playing some kind of role — a businessman, a president, a parent, a savior, a villain, an actor — then who remains when the set is taken down?
This is where the film acquires that very creator-like subtextthat we especially liked.
In feeling, it echoes in some way our yesterday’s analysis of “Tony”, where the central question also became:
“Who am I?”
And it is interesting that in “Digger” this question is not visible at all at first.
It appears gradually.
As if the film first deliberately forces the viewer to look at the outer shell — money, power, makeup, loud speeches, catastrophe — and then begins to remove the sets one after another.
We will not go into more detail, because this is precisely where it is easy to ruin one of the film’s main effects.
Reviews — an almost perfect split
And this, too, is interesting.
The reviews for “Digger” turned out to be very mixed.
Some critics call the film chaotic, too loud, self-satisfied and overloaded.
Others consider it bold, visually inventive and far more interesting than ordinary big Hollywood cinema.
Viewers are divided as well.
On CinemaScore the film received C+, which became one of the lowest scores in the film’s career in recent years.
But here we turned out to be closer to those who liked the film.
Perhaps the problem lies in expectations.
If you come to “Digger” for a new Tom Cruise in the usual sense — a charismatic hero who beautifully saves the world — you may be very surprised.
Because here we have a completely different Cruise.
And, in our opinion, as an actor, he is magnificent.
It is simply that the film itself does not reveal itself all at once.
The film needs a little patience
The first episodes are deliberately exaggerated.
Someone is shouting.
Someone delivers incredible speeches.
Someone tries to command nature.
There really is a lot of black humour, and in places it is so black that even we found it a little too much.
But around the middle of the viewing, an interesting thing happens:
the film finally begins to come together into a single whole.
You understand why certain oddities were there.
Why the characters look so exaggerated.
Why some scenes are almost theatrical.
And why the director plays with form so actively.
And it was precisely the form that we liked very much
Some of the cinematographic and directorial choices here are truly magnificent.
Especially the moments when space suddenly begins to be perceived differently, the sets change, the usual boundary between reality and performance is broken.
This is not just a visual trick.
Form gradually becomes part of the meaning.
And here, of course, one cannot fail to mention the cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki — a three-time Oscar winner, who shot “Gravity,” “Birdman” and “The Revenant.”
The visual aspect is one of the film’s greatest strengths.
And the cast here is enormous
Besides Tom Cruise and John Goodman, the film also stars:
Riz Ahmed — Ganesh;
Sandra Hüller — Emma;
Jesse Plemons — Kenny;
Michael Stuhlbarg — the vice president;
Emma D’Arcy — Lina;
Burn Gorman — Defense Minister Amos;
Robert John Burke — General Fitzgerald;
Sophie Wilde — Hannah;
as well as Pip Torrens, Corey Johnson, Danny Kirrane and others.
Sophie Wilde is known by many from “The Bureau of Magical Things”, “Talk to Me” and the series “The Boy Swallows the Universe”, while Jesse Plemons has long been beloved by us ever since “Breaking Bad” and “Fargo”.
Is it worth watching?
Yes, if you enjoy this kind of humor, if you want to laugh at politicians, and if you’re ready for the film to seem chaotic at first.
The picture is curious. And so our rating is quite good. Not only curious, but at times brilliant. And Cruise, after all, is brilliant.
A big plus is that the film has a hidden creative subtext about the meaning of life, our roles, and “who I am.” By about the middle of the viewing, you truly become immersed in its philosophy and its view of today’s world.
Give the film a chance.
Rating: 7.5/10
(We lowered the score slightly for the drawn-out runtime, which makes itself felt in places.)
This is a curious, idiosyncratic, and at times frankly brilliant film. If you enjoy unconventional humor, want to laugh at politicians, and are ready to accept the challenge from the screenwriters — “The Digger” was made for you.
And one more thing: some shots may shock you at first, but the very next day you'll be searching for meaning in them — and the first impression will begin to fade.
Tom Cruise proves that he is not just a superstar of action films, but a deep, versatile actor capable of carrying the most complex satire. Watch, absorb, and seek out the hidden meanings — they're worth it! 🎬🍿
