DIGGER (2026)

Throughout its marketing campaign, Warner Bros. opted to position Digger as a Tom Cruise movie. His gravitas and appeal were put above all else, including the film’s basic synopsis. Warner Bros. even released a three-minute trailer showcasing Cruise’s decades-long career to remind audiences that this is the last great movie star in his wackiest role yet. Perhaps that was the bait-and-switch the studio was aiming for. But this isn’t just Cruise’s film—it’s a two-time Academy Award winner’s picture, and his first English-language production since The Revenant (2015). Digger is first and foremost an Alejandro G. Iñárritu film.

Especially following his more introspective work, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022), this is a welcome return to a more marketable Iñárritu. However, that completely undersells his talent as a storyteller. From his ‘Trilogy of Death’—comprising Amores Perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003), and Babel (2006)—to his ‘Best Picture’ Oscar-winning Birdman (2014), Iñárritu loves telling stories that contain multitudes. They’re films full of contradictions that give each character room to command the screen and connect with us. In his earlier work, Iñárritu was particularly interested in what brings us together and makes us human. In his later pictures, he showcases the beauty and contradictions of making art, alongside the intricacies of family and ageing. Digger is the culmination of his career’s ambitions and interests: a work that goes far beyond the over-the-top satire of the world’s elite accelerating the climate crisis with which the film begins.

Digger opens somewhere in the near—or perhaps not so near—future. We’re introduced to Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise), a wealthy oil mogul waking up next to the love of his life: his dying cat, Maggie. Maggie is a weirdly adorable yet terrifying animatronic. Two decades old, she wets the bed and refuses to eat her favourite treats off Digger’s pinky finger.

Digger’s mansion, set somewhere in a picturesque Appalachian America, is a monument to opulence, complete with vaulted ceilings and pristine landscaping. His daily calendar is dictated by his personal assistant, Lina (Emma D’Arcy),who listens in constantly via an omniscient PA system. Still clad in his satin robe, Digger receives a panicked call from Sandy Clarkson (Danny Kirrane) at his Greenland drilling site. A five-foot crack Digger was warned about two weeks ago has now quadrupled in size.

Moments after hanging up, Digger learns from his chief environmental officer, Dr Ganesh (Riz Ahmed), that an explosion in Greenland has killed his entire team and sent an ice shelf four times the size of Washington, D.C. hurtling towards Europe. US President Compson (John Goodman) visits Digger at home and orders him to solve the ice shelf crisis while Compson prepares for surgery to remove a malignant tumour from his bottom.

Discussing Digger any further without spoiling the film’s major surprise and structure would be impossible. Because it was carefully hidden during marketing, it’s a genuinely unexpected pivot that feels jarring at first, but opens the film to a whole new realm of possibilities. Much of the joy lies in discovering that second-act structural twist and becoming immersed in Iñárritu’s layered storytelling.

What I can say is how marvellous it is to watch these artists at work. Emmanuel Lubezki, one of the finest living cinematographers, has earned multiple awards collaborating with Iñárritu. The film’s visual style is meticulously constructed to match its wild caricatures while staying grounded in our own world. Cosmo Sheldrake’s score is strikingly jarring and haunting, whilst set decorator Anna Pinnock creates truly unique locations. Again, going into further detail would undermine the filmmakers’ intended secrecy.

Iñárritu is fascinated by artistic creation, and he’s assembled a stellar cast willing to match his vision. Sandra Hüller is admittedly underused as Digger’s environmentally conscious sister, Emma. John Goodman channels some of his chaotic energy from The Big Lebowski (1998) into a character carefully teetering between a full-blown Trump caricature and a composite of every conservative politician holding office today. Jesse Plemons also appears in a small role that serves as the voice of the script and the film’s thematic conduit. His monologue is as moving to the characters as it is to the audience.

Riz Ahmed stands out in a memorable turn as Ganesh. He brings the same raw dramatic power that earned him an Oscar nomination in Sound of Metal (2019), while simultaneously playing one of the funniest characters in the entire film. A drunken scene of his stands among the finest screen portrayals of intoxication since Jimmy Stewart in The Philadelphia Story (1940). We need to see more of Ahmed on the big screen.

Nevertheless, Tom Cruise remains the movie star he was marketed to be, and he delivers a commanding performance.In recent years, he has largely morphed into an action hero indistinguishable from his real-life persona—and with good reason, having graced the screen with extraordinary stunt work and cinematic craft since Mission: Impossible (1996).In Digger, helped by some excellent prosthetics, he detaches himself from that action persona to deliver a larger-than-life performance that functions as a clever meta-commentary on his own career.

There is no direct real-life equivalent to Digger Rockwell. His surname harkens back to one of history’s first industrial titans, John D. Rockefeller, but his personality lacks a modern counterpart. Instead, he represents an amalgam of every billionaire wrapped into one, wielding shadowy control over global governments and everyday lives. While he isn’t a sympathetic character—his blatant disregard for humanity’s future is explicitly stated—the film takes a nuanced view of wealth. What is its proper use? How can money benefit everyone? Is it already too late?

Digger might not be the funniest film when judged purely as a satire, but any lack of belly laughs is compensated for by its beautifully complex ending. It isn’t merely a movie about climate change and economic inequality. Questions of obscene wealth are paired with a profound examination of artistic creation, echoing Babylon (2022) and Asteroid City (2023). Art remains a deeply unifying force, even under the most tragic circumstances. Alejandro G. Iñárritu is a filmmaker fascinated by art’s collective impact, and it’s wonderful to watch him explore it in such a distinctive, resonant fashion.

What’s more, the end credits are among the most memorable in recent memory. Iñárritu gets his final laugh via a sharp meta-moment about halfway through, so ensure you stay until the screen goes dark.

UK • MEXICO • USA | 2026 | 129 MINUTES | 1.50:1 • 1.85:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH

Cast & Crew

director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
writers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone & Sabina Berman (story by Sabina Berman, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and Jez Butterworth).
starring: Tom Cruise, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Riz Ahmed, Jesse Plemons, Robert John Burke & Emma D’Arcy.