Digger (2026)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on October 7, 2026 @ tonymacklin.net.

Digger is a time bomb of a film.

It works for some people right now. It will for some in the future. And some will always reject it.

Digger is one of the most polarizing films of all time.

It is set in a world that is collapsing. Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) is an aging oil baron who has to face a world that is changing for the worst, due to his dominance. His company's drilling has caused a huge part of a glacier in the Arctic to break away. It is heading for Europe, where it will cause international devastation.

Digger needs to control the narrative.

Director Alejandro Inarritu has a very successful career. He won 3 Oscars for directing. He directed the Best Picture winner Babel (2006). He won back-to-back Oscars for Birdman (2014) and The Revenant (2015), although neither won Best Picture. But Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar as Best Actor for The Revenant.

Digger is a satire of many things -- religion, politics, military, climate change, hypocrisy, audiences, and a bevy of other targets.

Inarritu obviously has seen Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964). But his satire does not have the clarity of Kubrick. The screenplay for Digger had 4 writers, including Inarritu. Too many cooks spoil the wrath.

Inarritu has notable success in his career with actors. In the first part of Digger, Cruise is unrecognizable, but nuanced, and credible. He makes bluster human. I thought he was well on his way to winning the Best Actor Oscar. But Inarritu changes his character, and he becomes less human.

When Cruise becomes actor Curtis Markson, it lessens his appeal. Inarritu probably sidetracks his star's potential by creating a movie where his vision overwhelms his actor's performance.

Cruise still gives a bold performance with great flair. It may remind one of Paul Newman's brave performance totally against his image in Robert Altman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976). It was rejected by the audiences.

But Cruise is no blue-eyed boy.

Inarritu also makes John Goodman unrecognizable as the President, who has a severe anal problem. That's not even possible, is it?

Jesse Plemons is an important character especially at the conclusion, when he appears as Digger's nephew who owns a global security company.

That's when Shakespeare can be paraphrased -- "the play is the thing in which to catch the conscience of the audience."

Digger asks the question, how much do you care?

Really care.