Digger By Alejandro G. Iñárritu
A Review of Digger, a new film by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Whiskey’s Garage
Film Talk
Volume 6
03/10/2026
Digger By Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Release Date: October 2nd, 2026
Runtime: 2:09
Budget: $125 million (Original) - $160-$180 million (After going over schedule)
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant, Birdman, Love’s a Bitch)
Starring: Tom Cruise, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg
Synopsis: “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.” - IMDb Description
Leading up to the release of Digger, I honestly didn’t know much about the film. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to see it in theatres. But after I saw quite a few advertisements for it online and realized the past work of Alejandro Iñárritu (The Revenant, Birdman), I decided I would give it a shot. Of course, Tom Cruise is always an eye-catching name as well. From the trailers, Director Alejandro Iñárritu has a certain style that seems refreshing and a bit different in this one. To me, this didn’t seem like a real Tom Cruise-esque film either, especially at this point in his career. I figured he’d ride out high-budget, high-paying action films until he decided to retire, but taking on what seems to be like a very unique and different role had me intrigued.
My full thoughts and review are below…
It’s very, very…good, in its own way. It is a very interesting film, to say the least. I feel as though I almost need another watch to really get it. To start, the acting is outstanding, all around. Tom Cruise wanted to prove something with this, and he did. His supporting cast was great, especially Riz Ahmed. John Goodman was amazing as well. There are a lot of really good things about this film. The cinematography was top-notch, the set design and costumes were awesome, and the editing style worked super well. The dialogue and the writing all around were great, 90% of the time at least. However, there is a lot of yelling in the dialogue, and it can get a bit annoying at times. Now, the story here is very, very political, and it takes CLEAR shots at the current state of the world, especially the United States Government, and especially Donald Trump and the “top 1%”. Iñárritu had a message to send through this film, and he did not shy away from it. But it works. It does get a little silly and unrealistic at times, but I think it's purposeful. Based on Hollywood’s political landscape, I reckon this film is going to be a massive talking point for years to come. It’s meant to be an eye-opening film, and I think it actually does that pretty effectively, most of the time. The start of the movie and the original plot grab you right away, it’s captivating and well done. Unfortunately, they decide to go a route that really broke it for me. It turns into a movie inside a movie. Meaning, Tom Cruise is actually playing a character named Curtis, and that character Curtis is playing the character “Digger” in a live-action play. So the film bounces around between the story of Digger and the story of Curtis and his crew trying to perform this play. Some viewers may love this approach, but for me it really took away from it. (It is worth mentioning that it is not my favourite style of filmmaking to begin with) I was so invested in the story of Digger. I was excited for this character to build and spend the next hour and a half with him, and they completely ruined the immersion by switching to revealing Curtis. I understand why it had to be that way based on how the story unfolded, and it did come together at the very end, actually making me enjoy it more. I still would have preferred just the story of Digger without that view. This is a film that some people will love, and some people will hate.
*SPOILER WARNING*SPOILER WARNING**SPOILER WARNING**SPOILER WARNING**SPOILER WARNING*
There are clear shots at President Donald Trump in this movie. One scene has the President (John Goodman), who is always wearing a blue suit with a red tie, by the way, dying and talking about how if he dies, the world will die with him, as he’s the center of everything. That transitions into him talking about nuking China, getting ready to do it, and the tough realization he can’t just press a red button to demolish a country. Then there's the U.S. governing body talking about covering up information about the oil rig explosion and banning certain buzzwords online. There are plenty of moments like this in the film, and they are actually pretty funny. There is a really, really dumb scene where they are all reacting to the eventual tsunami hitting Europe, and it was quite poorly done.
The very ending, and I mean the last 1-2 minutes (before that it wasn’t very good), brings the entire story together, and it did make me like the “movie within a movie” a little more. Essentially, we come to find out that these events really did happen 25 years ago, and now they are living in this dystopian, disgusting, controlled world. The streets are flooded and filled with smog, trash, AI monitoring bots, and real soldiers patrolling each corner. They even have to put on respirator masks before exiting the theatre. It’s meant to be the real “shocking, eye-opening” moment, and honestly, I thought it was. It brought the story together much better. It makes the “satire play” aspect work.
*END OF SPOILERS*END OF SPOILERS**END OF SPOILERS**END OF SPOILERS**END OF SPOILERS**END OF SPOILERS*
RATING - How well I think the movie is made. The dialogue, the production, the acting. Objectively, how good of a film it is. Out of 100%
ENJOYMENT - How much I personally enjoyed the film. Subjectively and based on the genre heading into it. Out of 100%
IMMERSIVENESS - How captivating I felt the film was. How well it brings you into the world they are building and makes you forget reality. How often I was fully intrigued. Out of 100%
(All ratings are personal opinions)
Rating: 86%
Enjoyment: 85%
Immersiveness: 80%
PROS:
The Acting
The story (most of the time)
The set design
The cinematography
CONS:
Certain story elements they chose
Not very funny when it tries to be
OSCAR NOMS (Thoughts)
Best Actor (In a leading role) - Tom Cruise was amazing, I can see him getting a nomination for it. He put his heart into this, and it felt like he had something to prove to everyone.
Best Actor (In a supporting role) - I could see Riz Ahmed getting a nomination for this. He did a really great job with the character, and paired well with Tom Cruise’s character.
Best Picture - If this does happen, a big reason will probably be Hollywood’s political views. They will absolutely love this story and everything it stands for.
Best Production Design - Doubtful, but the sets were great throughout the whole movie.
Best Director - Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Best Cinematography - The camera work was amazing throughout the entire movie
