Digger
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Overview: 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.
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Summary / Coverage / Press for Digger (2026)
Critical Consensus Summary: Digger (2026)
The embargo for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s apocalyptic climate satire Digger has just lifted, and early reviews are highly polarized, leaning heavily toward the negative. While Tom Cruise is receiving praise for his bizarre, fully committed performance as an egotistical Texas oilman facing the end of the world, many critics feel the film collapses under the weight of its own pretentious ambitions.
Here is a summary of what the critics are saying:
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Tim Grierson (Screen Daily)Deemed the film an “ambitious misfire” and a “shallow satire without nearly enough sly wit or emotional grounding,” noting that Cruise ultimately fails to convince as a bullish Texas oilman.
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The PlaylistCalled it an “audacious, antagonistic swing at the end of the world.” The outlet highlighted the film’s “recklessly excessive” scale and noted that it intentionally interrogates the absurdity of trying to control the uncontrollable with endless wealth.
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SlashFilmOffered one of the more positive takes, stating the film is “saved by Tom Cruise.” The reviewer acknowledged Iñárritu’s frustratingly self-indulgent tendencies but felt the movie ultimately succeeds as a deeply passionate, biting cry of anguish at the state of the world.
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Los Angeles TimesDescribed it as a “messy climate satire that occasionally strikes gold.” The reviewer called it a “bizarre stunt” combining the influences of Stanley Kubrick and Bertolt Brecht, praising the sheer audacity of Cruise getting a massive $125-million budget for such a strange, cold comedy.
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RogerEbert.comPanned the movie, writing that it “chokes on its own ambitions” and lacks any earnest soul. While praising Cruise’s fluid, confident movement and Riz Ahmed’s comedic timing, the reviewer concluded that Iñárritu dug himself into a “metafictional morass.”
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MashableHarshly criticized the film as “astonishingly unfunny.” The reviewer noted that instead of sharp political satire, audiences get bizarre scatological humor and a “farce without jokes,” calling it a grotesque mockery.
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TheWrapEquated the movie to “the week’s worst Saturday Night Live sketch [given] an inexplicably large budget and delusions of grandeur.” The reviewer called it a “powerless, self-adulating claptrap” that begs for applause just for acknowledging the world is ending.
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David Ehrlich (IndieWire)Described the film as a “surreal misfire about our collective self-delusion,” claiming that both Cruise and Iñárritu “almost hit rock bottom” in their attempt.