Review finds Iñárritu's Digger polarized critics, earned $20 million opening weekend

Ars Technica published a review of the film Digger on 7 October 2026. The review states the film stars Tom Cruise and was directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, whom it describes as a four-time Oscar-winning director. According to the review, Digger is Iñárritu's first English-language film since The Revenant, released in 2015.

The review reports the film earned $20 million globally in its opening weekend, against a budget of $125 million, possibly more. The reviewer wrote that Digger has sharply polarized critics and audiences, with some appreciating Iñárritu's bold, creative swings and others finding the film practically unwatchable. The reviewer wrote that the film is on track to be one of the biggest box-office failures of the year.

The reviewer said they count themselves among the film's champions, describing it as closer to absurdist theater than satire or dark comedy. The reviewer wrote that the film deliberately keeps the audience off-balance and is destined to irritate, or outright alienate, a solid faction of the audience. The reviewer also wrote that they understand why many people dislike the film, even though they reached the opposite conclusion.

The review describes the plot: Digger wakes to find his cat, Maggie, near death, then an explosion occurs at his company's oil drilling operation in Greenland, which the review attributes to methane under the ice. According to the review, the explosion dislodges an ice shelf the size of Maryland, nicknamed Judy, and sets it on a collision course with the coast of Norway, in a disaster that would see massive tidal waves destroying much of the European coast. The review states Digger conspires with US President Compson, played by John Goodman, to keep the news from getting out and delay evacuations, noting a small chance the shelf could melt away in the Atlantic instead.

The review states that a twist reveals the earlier scenes are a stage set, with Cruise playing an actor, Curtis Markson, who is portraying Digger Rockwell in a satirical play called Fossil Fools in its final dress rehearsal before opening night. According to the review, the characters seen earlier, including Compson, are actors too. The review states Curtis is not entirely happy with the creative decisions of the play's director, Hannah, played by Sophie Wilde, and is worried about his daughter.

The review reports that Iñárritu told Variety in July that he had the idea for the character shortly after wrapping The Revenant, saying, "I knew who this character was." According to the review, the project was initially developed at Netflix with Leonardo DiCaprio as a possible star, and Netflix opted to make Don't Look Up with DiCaprio instead. The review notes that some have compared Digger to Don't Look Up, and that apart from a climate theme the two films are very different. According to the review, the idea piqued Cruise's interest, and the actor was a longtime fan of the director.