Digger
Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s daring, outrageous and terrifying state-of-the-nation satire is likely to divide audiences, but it’s a hard film to forget – or to ignore.
As you’ve never seen them before: Tom Cruise and Riz Ahmed (flanked by Robert John Burke and Michael Stuhlbarg).
Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Love him or hate him, Alejandro González Iñárritu takes no prisoners. His films can be exasperating, astonishing, perplexing and gut-wrenching, often depending on what mood the viewer might be on the day that she or he watches it. If Iñárritu has a propensity for self-indulgence, he has earned it, as so often he brings ideas and images to the screen that are unforgettable. His last project, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022), elicited equal amounts of adulation and condemnation from reviewers, much as his previous films did, even the Oscar-winning Babel (2007), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2015) and The Revenant (2016).
After the semi-autobiographical Mexican Bardo, he now returns to the Hollywood mainstream, dragging with him the world’s biggest movie star, Tom Cruise. But is it a play? Is it a film? Is it a docudrama? It is perhaps all of the above, keeping the viewer guessing as to what – or who – will turn up next in a chilling blend of meta satire and farce, of geopolitical horror and Kubrickian parody. Surprise is the oxygen of great cinema and Iñárritu keeps his audience on its toes as he shifts tone, aspect ratio and character perspective in an environmental discourse that echoes Dr. Strangelove and numerous dystopian dramas of recent years. Don't Look Up? Don’t look behind you – as Iñárritu suggests that we are all accountable for the juggernaut of approaching ecological Armageddon.
Some might accuse Digger of over-simplifying matters, but as the wildest admonishments are placed into the mouths of the colourful roster of characters, it doesn’t really feel like sermonising. The biggest surprise is Tom Cruise (if you’ve managed to avoid the publicity) as Digger Rockwell, a monstruous, self-absorbed billionaire whose greed has eclipsed every ounce of his empathy, save for an unhealthy attachment to his ancient, incontinent cat Maggie. Thanks to some impressive prosthetics, a juicy Texan accent and a bombastic stance, Cruise is like we’ve never seen him before and it’s a brave, head-turning display of theatricality. But he’s not the only one to surprise. Iñárritu has amassed a sterling supporting cast of commendable players, each of whom is given their chance to stand up to Cruise’s histrionics. Riz Ahmed is brilliant and very funny as Rockwell’s head of environmental security, a bespectacled, nervous figure who is at once bamboozled and outraged by his boss’s ill-considered egomania. John Goodman, too, has enormous fun as a US president suffering from an anal tumour the size of a raccoon, and who appears to be tapping into a particular breed of Kubrickian grotesque. As Emma Rockwell, Digger's half-sister and political opposite, Sandra Hüller deserves special praise, as does Sophie Wilde in a part that it would be uncharitable to reveal. The production values, of course, are second to none, although first-time film composer Cosmo Sheldrake has to be applauded for his folk-infused, idiosyncratic music that perfectly sets the quirky tone.
Before its first screening to critics, Digger was trailing a good degree of awards expectation and now there appears to be something of a backlash. But in the decades to come, it will no doubt be regarded as something of a rediscovered gem, a courageous, capricious masterpiece for the ages. At times, the film feels it is about to overstay its welcome, but then the director pulls the rug from beneath our feet one more time. Even the ominous drone of insects and digital beeps over the closing credits are perfectly in keeping with the preceding material, as is the proscenium arch that kicks off and closes the movie. Iñárritu is in charge of every inch of his work and has produced a challenging, immersive and mind-blowing piece that manages to flaunt a certain wit, terrific dialogue and across-the-board excellent performances that will probably haunt us for years to come.
Cast: Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Robert John Burke, Sophie Wilde, Emma D’Arcy, Burn Gorman, Pip Torrens, Mercedes Hernández, Danny Kirrange, Corey Johnson, Aoife Hinds, Marty Cruickshank, Teddy Hawley, Annabel Mullion.
Dir Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Pro Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent, Tom Cruise and Michael Sharp, Screenplay Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Nicolás Giacobone and Sabina Berman, from a story by Sabina Berman, Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Jez Butterworth, Ph Emmanuel Lubezki, Pro Des Dennis Gassner and Richard L. Johnson, Ed Stephen Mirrione and Conor O'Neill, Music Cosmo Sheldrake, Costumes Jacqueline West, Sound Richard King, Maximilian Behrens and Randy Torres, Dialect coaches Sonja Field, Ross Forder and Elizabeth Himelstein.
Legendary Pictures-Warner Bros.
128 mins. UK/Mexico/USA. 2026. UK and US Rel: 2 October 2026. Cert. 15.
