‘Digger’ review: Tom Cruise fails to convince as a bullish Texas oilman in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s ambitious misfire

Dir: Alejandro G. Iñárritu. US. 2026. 129mins

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Digger aspires to be an audacious commentary on the many ills plaguing our society: global warming, income inequality, xenophobia, radical Christian conservatives and a US government run amok. The director constructs his rambunctious satire around an arrogant oil tycoon who realises his despoiling of the planet could result in a mass-extinction event. Tom Cruise takes enormous risks playing the outlandish title character, and his daring portrait of avarice and ego is occasionally striking in its ferocity. But this ambitious misfire is consistently sabotaged by Iñárritu’s gratingly unsubtle comedic approach – not to mention his introduction of a meta twist that further alienates the audience.

Despite the endless actorly fireworks, there’s a terminal hollowness at the character’s centre

Warner Bros. will be betting big on Cruise’s considerable star power when Digger hits UK and US theatres on October 2. The Mission: Impossible actor has not appeared in a comedy in more than a decade, and it is unclear if his fans will line up for this decidedly offbeat picture, which reportedly cost $125 million. Iñárritu’s critical acclaim arising from his award-winning Birdman and The Revenant should attract arthouse crowds, but lukewarm reviews may deter a wider audience.

Set in the not-too-distant future, Digger introduces us to Digger Rockwell (Cruise), a rich, entitled Texas businessman whose family made its fortune drilling for oil. The ageing magnate is confronted with upsetting news when he learns that his Greenland refinery has caused a massive ice shelf to break free – it’s heading straight for Europe and could result in mass fatalities and the displacement of millions. Teaming up with buffoonish US President Compson (John Goodman), Digger plots to stop this wave of destruction, with Compson’s unhinged military advisors recommending they nuke the ice shelf – which might create even more disastrous consequences.

Visually, the film is a knockout as Iñárritu’s regular cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki shoots the story as a series of gorgeous tableaus, handsomely crafted by production designers Dennis Gassner and Richard Johnson. Filmed in VistaVision, Digger recalls Roy Andersson’s surreal, freeze-dried environments – although instead of that Swedish director’s droll, deadpan style, Iñárritu embraces a consciously over-the-top approach punctuated by caricaturish characters and yelled one-liners. Digger evokes a living nightmare in which the obscenely wealthy act with impunity and the US is run by warmongering fanaticals secure in their certainty that God approves of whatever they do. Cosmo Sheldrake’s jittery score only heightens the disorientation and paranoia.

Cruise’s trademark intensity is channeled into a soulless, bullying, entitled tycoon who frequently screams at his timid environmental advisor Ganesh (Riz Ahmed) and feuds with his younger half-sister Emma (Sandra Hüller). The bellowing performance, accentuated by Kazu Hiro’s dehumanising prosthetic makeup, has some arresting moments — most notably during a bravura set-piece in which Digger cockily addresses a room full of angry European leaders about why they desperately need oilmen like him.

Unfortunately, despite the endless actorly fireworks, there’s a terminal hollowness at the character’s centre. Cruise so frenetically taps into the cliches of a callous Texas oil baron that little emerges beyond the tics and accent. A similar problem affects the rest of the cast, whether it’s Goodman’s blowhard president or Ahmed’s pushed-around scientist. Everyone in Digger is a grossly exaggerated type, and most of the actors play their characters as loud, eccentric fools. Iñárritu’s point, of course, is that the actual monsters ruining our planet are grotesques who were long ago unmoored from reality. But the screenplay, which he co-wrote, is smug rather than incisive when angrily condemning its obvious comedic targets.

Eventually, however, Iñárritu introduces a narrative surprise that forces viewers to reconsider everything they have seen up to that point. But although the surprise touches on the film’s deeper theme of how we learn to live through perilous times, the execution feels showy and self-satisfied. Digger’s twist will draw comparisons to the work of Charlie Kaufman and Wes Anderson, but without their abiding empathy for their damaged characters. For Iñárritu, it’s merely another provocative stunt in a shallow satire without nearly enough sly wit or emotional grounding.