Never before have I expected to see a fat-suited Tom Cruise perfectly execute the demeanour of an ultra-wealthy oil tyrant, hell-bent on watching the world burn for profit. In “Digger” (2026), director Alejandro Gonzรกlez Iรฑรกrritu uses that profile as a springboard to send a bleak warning to humanity amongst the fantastic visual direction, brilliant acting, yet initially confusing narrative of his hit instalment that landed in UK theatres earlier today.
Critics have deemed “Digger” to be a comedy/dark comedy, yet Iรฑรกrritu’s title appears to be of the darkest, most dystopian types of comedy you’ll see. Alongside Tom Cruise, the cast features star names in John Goodman as President Compson, Riz Ahmed as Dr Nirav Ganesh, Sandra Hรผller as Emma Rockwell and Jesse Plemons as Kenny Rockwell amongst others. Once you wrap your head around the plotline of the 129 minutes of “Digger”, the rest is a demoralisingly satisfying nod towards the politics of today.
Oli Hampson gives his take.
Note: The following content contains major spoilers for the movie. Please refrain from reading if you intend to watch it.
“Digger” is Undeniably a Dystopian Movie- However it Doesn’t Inititally Seem That Way
Dystopian direction is key towards any dark-themed movie, be that comedy or tragedy, to sucking the viewer into a sense of “this feels eerie”. Dystopia scares me more than any horror movie ever has, even after watching the grotesque trailer for Robert Eggers’s upcoming title “Werwulf” when waiting for the film to start. Digger maintains all of the tropes of what makes a dystopia from the beginning, but about mid-way through the film they rip the rose-tint of comedy away from an already dark film to make everything click into place.
Tom Cruise is introduced to the cinematic world as the ultra-patriotic head of a corrupt oil tycoon that has agreed a shady deal with the US Government, allowing drilling amongst the permafrost ice of Greenland. He ignored the frequent warnings of a methane leak and cracking in his laziness- lighting the fire to an end. Sounding somewhat close to reality yet? In fact, Cruise’s first character intentionally shows the most affection of anything to his decaying, puppet-looking cat Maggie above that of any other human.
Ultimately as one would expect, the meddling of man to nature triggers catastrophe- breaking a glacier described as “five times the size of Washington DC” in a collision course to Europe. Dirty, dark politics become introduced as the freedom-blinded US Cabinet meet with Rockwell to discuss the outcome, reaching an agreement similar to that of Barbarians to watch the destruction unfold- later destroying a second glacier with force. The audience is set-up to believe that we are in for a movie with that path in mind, but Iรฑรกrritu flips everything you thought you understood in the opening half-hour upside down with the first of three major twists in the movie.
“But what is this twist?” you may ask.
A tree.
This tree causes cast and audience to freeze alike, as the artificiality of everything becomes put on display. It’s a fabricated disaster-play titled “Fossil Fools”, as revealed by a stage-member fixing a loose tree that flopped to the ground. This is where the only major flaw in the movie was made, in that no explanation is offered to anything at the time. That’s not directing genius, it’s just empty- for now. “Fossil Fools” as a title was actually only revealed towards the end. Now, we see a confusing mess of Tom Cruise on a hasty video call in the back of a filming set. Until about 60-minutes in, I was lost and almost disappointed.
From here, the rest of the movie is seemingly spelled out for us. Man wagers war on ice and the remainder of the play is the rest of the story from said play laid out in cinematic form. Yet the eagle-eyed viewers in the cinema would have taken note of one character, the one who ultimately suggested of something deeper and more sinister under the tones of an already dark movie. The one who would take the comedy away entirely. That was the introduction of Kenny Rockwell.
The Controlling, Charismatic Hand of Oppression- Kenny Rockwell
Kenny was my favourite character in “Digger”. He was the most subtle nod towards a greater villain I’ve seen in a movie. I think it’s harsh to even call him a villain right until you’ve realised everything. The sharply-dressed ginger introduced himself at crucial times to Curtis Markson (Digger Rockwell’s actor within the movie), often interrupting the flow of the play and grounding both Curtis and the play to a short, but controlled halt. First, Kenny gifts a tie to Curtis, a seemingly kind gesture that one later can consider to be a minimal nod at control. But questions are really raised in their second, and final one-to-one interaction.
Curtis has been in worry about his daughter Suri who is involved in some kind of a plane halt that has caused her to be displaced (which is what he has consistently been involved in video calls for). Upon mentioning this to Kenny, Curtis is shocked when he is offered her safety at the cost of just her phone number from Rockwell- stating “that’s all he needs” to find her and proceeding to transfer it via a watch of sorts. Now THAT’s dystopian.
I’ll admit, that part didn’t even cross me until I’d left the theatre, but boy did it hit me. Jesse Plemons is an actor astonishingly capable of portraying a two-faced villain that comes across as a friend, just take Todd Alquist in “Breaking Bad” and Robert Daly in the “Black Mirror” episode “USS Callister”. In fact, his compelling monologue in the latter-stages of the movie can even make viewers sympathise with him as he confirms the facts on the second of three major twists in the movie.
“Fossil Fools” is a satirical play based on the catastrophe that actually happened. It’s meant to mock Digger Rockwell, to shame him and to remind the audience of the events that led to the death of millions, which is ultimately the reason for the third and biggest shock twist in the movie.
The Biggest Twist of the Movie came in the Final Seconds
The show had finished. Curtis and his wife embraced knowing that their daughter was safe. The cast re-enters the stage to bow and receive their applause. Then the siren goes.
“Level Four” was the announcement throughout the theatre. But no-one panicked, no one looked scared. The whole audience calmly put on their oxygen masks, and left the thick, sealed doors of the theatre. From there, the camera panned to the title “Fossil Fools” outside, before slowly zooming out to reveal a destroyed, flooded New York City. The real horror came after. Drones whirred overhead, soldiers armed to the teeth patrolled the flooded streets in tanks to ensure submission. The final shot of the whole film was then set into place, revealing the Orwellian words of “Compliance is Freedom” sprayed upon the concrete above a pile of destroyed cars and robotic bodies.
The world that was portrayed in the beginning of “Digger” seemed like a utopia in comparison. Similar to that of “Panem” in Suzanne Collin’s “The Hunger Games”, a totalitarian society had emerged from climate disaster. Kenny’s family was the orchestrator of it, and he was an agent for surveillance. Curtis’s daughter was only found due to the vast amount of cameras upon every individual left in the wasteland of a world. All throughout the movie, the Rockwell family had control in their back-pockets. Kenny was simply being hereditarily merciful to Curtis for his good acting. Dystopia was present from the start, but it morphed and changed in the movie from a bad dream into a terrible nightmare. Iรฑรกrritu has masterfully weaved reality and fiction into a web that enforced one consistent idea in the movie- control.
Digger (2026)- Overall Verdict and Score
If there was ever a movie to wake you up to the environmental politics of today, then Alejandro Gonzรกlez Iรฑรกrritu’s “Digger” will widen your eyes to the threat the world faces in the power of economic tyrants and multi-billionaires who prioritise assets and wealth over humanity. Greed is portrayed to be the ultimate sin in the movie, as even through the comfort blanket of tragedy being manufactured for a play, we are hit with the damning truth that the play is indeed a retelling, not fiction. The world lost its assets in the floods caused by Judy and first Digger, but individuality and freedom were lost beyond that.
Tom Cruise has given his boldest, most versatile cinema performance as the dual personality of “Digger Rockwell” and “Curtis Markson”. The ability to be an actor within a movie portraying an actor is no easy feat, but Cruise masterfully made the distinction clear enough once the truth had been made. The monologue of Digger amongst the European Tribunal demonstrated how unhinged “Digger” is as a movie, and if Cruise can adopt the personality of Digger Rockwell again in cinema, we are in for a treat.
“Digger” is a divisive and at parts confusing movie, but the genius of Tom Cruise and the subtle build towards a devastating plot twist mean Alejandro Gonzรกlez Iรฑรกrritu’s work will be remembered fondly by many.
For this, “Digger” (2026) earns an 8/10 rating from me.
