Tom Cruise Digs Deep in Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Gloriously Unhinged Satire

Every so often, a movie star reminds us why he became one in the first place. With Digger, Tom Cruise delivers his best performance since Magnolia, and that is not a comparison one makes lightly. For more than two decades we have watched Cruise sprint across rooftops, dangle from airplanes, and hang off cliffs in the name of spectacle. Those films have their place, and few people have ever sold a stunt like him. But Digger reveals the actor behind the movie star persona, demonstrating that he remains capable and eager to immerse himself in a role.

Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, an oil baron billed as the most powerful man in the world. From the first frame you barely recognize him. The paunch, the thinning white hair, the thick Southern drawl it would be easy to call the performance a gimmick, a makeup job designed to grab headlines. It isn't. The transformation is the doorway, not the destination. Once you step through it, you find a man who is charming, repulsive, ridiculous, and oddly magnetic all at once. Cruise understands that the most dangerous people are the ones who make you want to agree with them, and he plays Digger with a swagger that keeps you laughing even while your stomach tightens. It is a thrilling return to the fearless, go-for-broke performances he used to deliver regularly with Paul Thomas Anderson and Stanley Kubrick.

Much of the credit belongs to Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Under his guidance, we witness an artist performing at his peak. Iñárritu's enduring fascination with messy, ambitious stories Amores Perros, Birdman, The Revenant, Bardo, and Digger demonstrates that he has lost none of that appetite. This is his first English-language feature since The Revenant, and he returns as a filmmaker still determined to push the art form forward rather than coast on past glories. He shot the film in VistaVision, and the images are enormous, strange, and often breathtaking. Yet the scale never swallows the people inside the frame. Iñárritu knows exactly when to pull the camera back to show the size of the catastrophe and when to push in close enough to catch a flicker of doubt on Digger's face.

The film itself is complex and unhinged in the best possible way. Digger truly embodies the essence of a comedy of catastrophic proportions, as it was marketed. It is a satire that moves between absurdity and dread, sometimes within the same scene. We won't reveal where the story goes, because much of the pleasure lies in watching it unfold and in not knowing what Iñárritu will throw at you next. What we will say is that the film has real things on its mind power, ego, greed, and the stories wealthy men tell themselves about their importance and it refuses to hand you easy answers. Some sequences are laugh-out-loud hilarious. Others land with a chill. That tonal tightrope is incredibly difficult to walk, and Iñárritu walks it with confidence.

Cruise may be the center of gravity, but the supporting cast keeps the orbit spinning. Riz Ahmed is terrific, bringing a sharp intelligence and a grounded presence that plays beautifully against Cruise's bravado. Their scenes together crackle, and Ahmed finds layers in his role that a lesser actor would have missed. John Goodman, meanwhile, is a reminder of how much weight a great character actor can bring with a single look. He commands every moment he's on screen, and his exchanges with Cruise are among the film's highlights. The wider ensemble, including Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, and Michael Stuhlbarg, adds texture and depth to a world that feels both heightened and uncomfortably familiar.

Let's be honest: Digger may not appeal to everyone. Audiences may be surprised by the expectations of a Tom Cruise action vehicle. Viewers who prefer their satire tidy and their messages spelled out may find themselves frustrated. The film is loud, strange, and unapologetically ambitious, and it asks you to meet it on its terms. But that is precisely what makes it so exciting. In a landscape crowded with sequels, reboots, and safe bets, here is a major studio film from a major auteur and one of the biggest stars on the planet that actually takes risks.

Digger may be one of the most intriguing offerings of 2026. It is a showcase for a filmmaker who refuses to repeat himself and a star who, after all these years, still has something to prove and proves it. Whether you love it or wrestle with it, you will be talking about it long after the credits roll.