Digger Is An Audacious Mess...and I Really Respect That.

Around 20 minutes into Digger, the new film by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, a major twist happens (don’t worry, I won’t say what it is) that made me break my cardinal rule when watching a film in a theater: I spoke. I turned to my friend, who was also at the press screening, and said, “Now, it’s interesting.”

Surprisingly, they kept this twist out of the trailers and most of the media coverage. Even most of the movie influencers and YouTubers have kept their mouths shut about it, and I think that’s quite glorious. It is the one thing that truly elevates Digger from an over-the-top Dr. Strangelove wannabe into an actually compelling, original piece of art. Mind you, the movie itself is still very flawed and definitely will not be for everyone, but it is absolutely worth watching for the big swings it decides to take.

The film is about a fictional character named Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise slathered in prosthetics), a billionaire oil tycoon whose drilling operations in the icy tundras of Greenland go remarkably south, causing a major environmental crisis around the world. In an effort to stop the globe from crumbling, he, along with a zany group of misfits (government officials, including an ailing U.S. President played by John Goodman…who was not good in this), come together to try and find a solution.

Digger does everything it can to remind you that it’s a satire, often literally stopping in the middle of a scene to tell you that (one character literally says “this is a satire” so we wouldn’t forget it…ugh), which I would argue is the film’s fatal mistake. Iñárritu is clearly taking cues from Kubrick’s 1964 classic here, populating his screen with very loud performances and jokes that are trying desperately to be socially relevant. Sadly, it mostly doesn’t work, because the difference between Digger and Dr. Strangelove is that the latter doesn’t spoon-feed its audience. It embraces its satirical nature without ramming it down our throats, while Digger’s screaming, look-at-me satire just feels unfortunately obnoxious.

Still, you have to respect what Iñárritu has made here. Digger is probably one of the boldest artistic swings of 2026, and you realize just how wild a swing it is while sitting in the theater at around the 20-minute mark (again, the twist). But what makes that even more special is the fact that this is a major studio movie with a $120 million budget. Props to Warner Bros. Pictures as well for greenlighting a project and letting Iñárritu do his thing, even if most of it doesn’t really work. The studio has really shown its support for auteurs lately, if this is any indication, with One Battle After Another and Sinners last year serving as other examples.

Every cent of that enormous studio budget is evident on the screen, and it is quite glorious to experience. The production design clearly stands out, showcasing everything from Digger’s opulent Citizen Kane-esque mansion to cold government war rooms and even wild landscapes. It’s creative, clearly thought out, and beautifully executed. Again, it’s hard to talk about without spoiling the twist, but in the context of that big reveal, the work here is genuinely impressive. It should win the Oscar for that category.

In addition, the cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki is really quite good. While it’s not among his best works, Chivo, as he’s famously called, lends his remarkable artistic eye to Digger, photographing Iñárritu’s satire with his signature natural fluidity and allowing audiences to fully immerse themselves in this fictional world. It’s beautiful to look at, too.

And now we get to Tom Cruise, who for months has been doing press for this film as his major “dramatic comeback,” his first back-to-form, major non-action star role in years. To be honest? He’s excellent in Digger. Old Tommy shows us more emotion and nuance in a single film than he has in decades of starring in big action blockbusters, revealing a range of talent that we often forget he possesses. On the surface (and for most of the runtime), he is the loud and obnoxious Texan we expect the character to be (à la Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder). But in the film’s quieter moments, he shows us the emotional intensity of his character in Magnolia, as well as the inner conflict of Jerry Maguire.

It’s an impressive showcase for Cruise, who proves he can pretty much do anything and reminds us why he’s one of Hollywood’s last true movie stars. In a just world, his commitment to the role of Digger Rockwell would be noticed by the Academy. Sadly, the divisive nature of the film itself might make that road to gold a bit difficult. But if Brendan Fraser could win for The Whale, so could Tom Cruise. We’ve seen stranger things…

Digger is not the masterpiece everyone is expecting it to be. Its narrative is confused: Are we trying to comment on the environment through satire? (Apparently so; they keep reminding us that it is.) Or is it a glorious character study of a complicated, morally bankrupt billionaire that also happens to serve as a star vehicle for megastar Tom Cruise?

If they were trying to do both, then they failed. But as an audacious piece of art, especially amid the icy tundra of 2026 movies, it is definitely a respectable success. I, for one, want to see it again, if only to make sense of what the hell I just saw on screen.

Digger opens in Philippine theaters on October 2, 2026. Rated R-13.