“Digger” Digs its Own Grave
When Alejandro G. Iñárritu won the Oscar for Best Director in 2014, it was for his film Birdman, which was a feat of unconventional filmmaking. It’s supposed to give the viewer the impression that its entire runtime is one continuous take of a Hollywood actor, desperate to be taken seriously again, mounting a Broadway play. In some ways, Iñárritu’s latest, Digger, is in direct, metatextual conversation with Birdman. Digger stars a big-name Hollywood actor who wants to be taken seriously again, beyond his work as an action star. A man who wants a chance to take home one of those gold statues at the end of awards season.
Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise) is the sort of loudmouth, oil-magnate businessman who can only come from America. He lives in a massive, beautifully ornate mansion, but he’s soon to learn that the world outside is about to implode, and he’s largely responsible. Digger’s morning routine is interrupted with news from environmental safety chief Dr. Ganesh (Riv Ahmed). He’s told that an explosion at the Rockwell United oil rig in Greenland has knocked loose an ice shelf the size of Maryland and that it’s heading for Norway. Dr. Ganesh believes it’s Digger’s duty to sound the alarm to evacuate people from the path of the ice shelf, but Digger isn’t sure there’s any reason to take the blame.
Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Digger is a series of events where loud, angry men yell at each other. Every one of them is trying to prove that they’re masculine as the next guy and deserve to be in the position of power they’ve found themselves in. When told of the impending collision, Digger is unphased. Instead of taking action, he tells the story of how his great-grandfather dug his way out of the world he was born into and found something better. Digging got the Rockwell family into this mess, and digging is going to get them out of it. Or so Digger believes. Everyone else can see the truth, though. Not just the scientists who have been trying to get Digger to act for months, but the audience. The writing is on the wall. Corporate greed and political grabs at power will always prevail. The men at the top — the president, generals, appointed officials — they aren’t looking out for the public. They’re looking out for themselves.
To Digger’s credit, there is a component of the narrative that has been kept from the viewer through the press and promotion tour. Trailers have a terrible habit of ruining the best parts of the movie before they can be seen in context. Finally, it seems like Hollywood is catching on to the fact that there’s something thrilling and irreplaceable in the first viewing of a film. Both The Drama and Digger have a moment where the narrative shifts irrevocably, and both kept that from audiences until the moment it happens in the film. In Digger, there’s never an indication that the rug is about to be pulled, which makes it more interesting.
Copyright: © 2026 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
To Digger’s discredit, though, this twist loses steam quickly. When it’s first revealed, there’s a great moment for the audience as they see something wholly unexpected. As it goes, the twist becomes more of a hindrance than an addition to the narrative. Digger is a social satire about the state of the world and the energy industry. Iñárritu is familiar in the space of rough-around-the-edges, easy-to-dislike main characters, and it uses them to force the viewer to confront larger themes of the human condition. Digger thinks it’s a lot smarter than it actually is. The social commentary it’s throwing at the audience isn’t cutting-edge. It’s the sort of thing that’s become commonplace and front of mind for about a decade, ever since the 2016 election. With the character of Digger, Iñárritu has channeled all his thoughts about megalomaniacs into a caricature of a business magnate. Cruise is going all-in on his performance, but it’s hollow. Digger is supposed to be a charismatic force who’s risen all the way to the top, but the moments where that magnetic force is supposed to be on display don’t have a leg to stand on.
Digger is stuck in a hole ten feet deep. Its thoughts on climate change, politicians in power, and millionaires are not new, nuanced, or necessary. We’re long past the point where Digger could be seen as a boundary-pushing work. Its sense of importance is as self-inflated as its central character’s. Digger is a misfire that manages to be both safe and outlandish, yelling without anything to say.
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