Alejandro González Iñárritu's Digger, starring Tom Cruise in the title role, is now in theaters, and the satirical black comedy has proven to be highly divisive among critics. The movie is not expected to go over very well with cinemagoers, either, and could wind up becoming the biggest box office bomb of 2026.
Much of Iñárritu's previous work could certainly be considered an acquired taste, but his films have generally been very well-received. What makes his latest project so polarizing? Well, Digger features some major twists, one of which completely recontextualizes the entire story.
We'll try to make this breakdown as straightforward as possible, but there is a lot to take in here.
Major spoilers follow.
First off, Digger is not a musical as rumors claimed in the buildup to its release, but it does ultimately slot into another unexpected genre.
The first big reveal comes around half an hour in, when we learn that aging oil baron Digger Rockwell (Cruise), the U.S. President (John Goodman), and (most of) the other characters we've been following are actually rehearsing for a performance of an elaborate play about a potentially world-ending threat brought about by Rockwell's Greenland drilling operation.
Cruise's character is an actor named Curtis Markson, and from this point on, the rehearsals are intercut with scenes of him dealing with a family crisis as he attempts to track down his missing daughter.
Later on, Curtis completely flips out in the middle of rehearsing an increasingly ridiculous scene, and complains to the play's director that none of the three characters involved in the scene were anywhere near each other... when the catastrophic, apocalyptic events being depicted actually happened.
The play, "Fossil Fools," is actually a satirical reenactment of real-world events. At this point, Jesse Plemons' character Kenny - a slightly odd fellow who has been lurking on the sideline for most of the movie - reveals that his full name is actually Kenny Rockwell, the nephew of the real Digger, played by a young boy in the play within the movie. Kenny bought the rights to the play he first saw performed in London, and rounded up the best actors and director he could find.
The play ends with Digger dying, and we see that the previously empty theater is now packed out with a cheering audience. As the people file out, they don air-filter masks and reenter a post-apocalyptic city with soldiers patrolling the streets.
You have to hand it to Iñárritu for subverting expectations with some big swings, but it's easy enough to understand why some view the movie as a masterpiece, and others as a complete disaster.
Do you plan on seeing Digger? Let us know in the comments.
A man. A plan. A meltdown. DIGGER. Only in theaters October 2. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alejandro G. Iñárritu returns with his original film DIGGER, starring Tom Cruise in the title role. The most powerful man in the world embarks on a frantic mission to prove he is humanity’s savior before the disaster he’s unleashed destroys everything.
Cruise stars alongside Oscar winner Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Oscar nominee Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons. Iñárritu directed from a screenplay by Iñárritu & Oscar-winners Alexander Dinelaris & Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman, story by Berman & Iñárritu and Jez Butterworth.
The film is produced by Iñárritu, Oscar nominee Mary Parent, Cruise, and executive produced by Joshua Grode.
Joining Iñárritu behind the camera are previous collaborators Oscar-winning director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki; editors Conor O’Neill and Oscar winner Stephen Mirrione; Oscar-nominated costume designer Jacqueline West; Oscar-winning makeup and hair designer Alessandro Bertolazzi; and Oscar-nominated casting director Francine Maisler; along with Oscar- winning production designer Dennis Gassner and production designer Richard Johnson, Oscar-winning prosthetic makeup designer Kazu Hiro, and composer Cosmo Sheldrake.