Archive · 3 Oct 2026
Digger Swings Big on Climate Satire but Loses Its Way
Digger is a movie about a very rich oil businessman whose company helps cause a huge environmental disaster.
Tom Cruise plays the businessman, who tries to protect himself as the danger grows.
The story shows powerful people trying to control what everyone hears about the crisis.
The film also has a scientist, government leaders and a dangerous situation in Europe.
The review says some scenes look striking, and Cruise gives a strong speech.
But it also says the movie is too strange and crowded with ideas.
The reviewer thinks its jokes and message are not as effective as they could be.
People who watch it may have plenty to talk about afterward.
Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger stars Tom Cruise as oil tycoon Digger Rockwell.
The film links Rockwell’s company’s unethical activities to an unfolding ecological disaster.
Its satire focuses on powerful men trying to manage the crisis narrative instead of addressing the disaster.
The review praises the film’s visual inventiveness and Cruise’s European Parliament speech, delivered in one long take.
The reviewer finds the film overstuffed, tonally excessive and too heavy-handed to make its climate message land.
- Who
- Tom Cruise plays oil tycoon Digger Rockwell; Alejandro González Iñárritu directed the film.
- What
- Digger is a climate-crisis satire about an oil tycoon and the efforts to manage the story of an ecological disaster.
- Where
- The film includes a riot at the European Parliament and an address to its leaders.
- Why
- The film satirizes powerful people’s focus on controlling the narrative of a crisis rather than dealing with it.
What Works
What Falls Short
Visual style and performance
What Works
The review calls the film visually inventive and highlights Cruise’s performance in the European Parliament speech.
What Falls Short
It says the film’s maximalist style and theatricality often overwhelm its stronger moments.
Climate satire
What Works
The film’s focus on leaders trying to control the narrative of a crisis offers timely, thought-provoking satire.
What Falls Short
The reviewer argues that its humor is not precise or compelling enough, and its message is delivered too heavily.
- Film
- Digger
- Director
- Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Lead actor and role
- Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell
- Rockwell’s business
- An oil company whose unethical activities are linked in the film to an ecological disaster
- Other cast named
- John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Robert John Burke and Riz Ahmed
- Featured scene
- Rockwell addresses leaders at the European Parliament in a long, unbroken take
- Review’s assessment
- Visually inventive, but overstuffed and too heavy-handed to leave a lasting impact