"Digger," a new film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Tom Cruise, presents a darkly comedic vision of a near future on the brink of environmental collapse. The movie, running 129 minutes, explores themes of corporate power, climate crisis, and human folly through the lens of an eccentric oil tycoon, Digger Rockwell, portrayed by Cruise.
Set in an Arctic environment heavily exploited for resources, the story opens with an incongruous focus on Digger's elderly cat, which he refuses to accept is dying despite clear signs. This personal denial mirrors the broader societal unwillingness to confront looming disaster. The narrative escalates when Ganesh, a jittery scientific adviser played by Riz Ahmed, delivers grim news about an imminent rig accident that threatens catastrophic consequences for millions.
As the plot unfolds, Digger’s relentless optimism and reckless decision-making drive attempts to avert calamity. The film’s tone is manic and farcical, drawing comparisons to Stanley Kubrick’s "Dr. Strangelove," with John Goodman as a loud, bombastic fictional U.S. president and cocksure military generals circling the crisis. The sharp interplay between Cruise’s bombastic performance and Ahmed’s portrayal of mounting frustration provides much of the film’s dramatic tension.
Iñárritu incorporates a meta-narrative framing device, setting parts of the film even further into the future, though much of this structure remains intentionally veiled to avoid spoilers. The director’s approach blends absurdist humor with dystopian urgency, highlighting humanity’s collective failure to address environmental challenges and the entanglement of big oil with political power.
Critics note that while the film’s ambition and scale are notable, "Digger" occasionally struggles with self-awareness. For instance, a sequence poking fun at the absence of women among power brokers loses impact given the sparse female presence in the film’s cast. Moreover, the story often substitutes explicit didacticism for subtle storytelling, exemplified by repeated moments where the protagonist’s behavior is spelled out rather than left for viewers to interpret.
One pivotal scene involves a UN-like assembly where Digger defiantly justifies his business model by emphasizing market demand, signaling the film’s central critique of profit-driven environmental destruction. Despite its occasionally uneven execution, the film’s artistic craftsmanship and the performances of Cruise and Iñárritu’s direction have been acknowledged as its strengths.
"Digger" is now showing in cinemas, offering a provocative, if polarizing, reflection on the intersection of corporate greed, political power, and ecological crisis.