Tom Cruise (Top Gun, Mission: Impossible) has never received a competitive Oscar and so, at the Governors Awards in late 2025, the Academy recognised his “immense” contribution to the industry with an honorary statuette.  It was presented by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman, The Revenant) who told the beautiful story of how Cruise passionately championed his debut feature, Amores perros (2000), which helped launch his own career in Hollywood.  It’s taken 25 years… but the pair are finally working together for the first time.

When I first saw trailers for Digger, I had it sized as a modern-day spin on Stanley Kubrick’s dark comedy Dr Strangelove.  The world faces annihilation while incompetent government officials sit around a board room table making laughable decisions.  My hunch was accurate but now having seen the full movie, I can assert Iñárritu’s film is about much more.  Key plot points are not divulged in the promotional materials and so, to preserve the film’s eyebrow-raising impact, it’s best to avoid spoilers going in.  Love or hate, it’s an experience you’ll remember for a while.  That’s part of its allure.

What I’m happy to discuss is the opening act.  Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, a greedy, powerful, insanely rich businessman who, thanks to underhanded deals, is extracting oil from beneath an ice shelf in Greenland and selling it to the United States.  A capitalist above all else, he’s ordinarily ambivalent about environmental impacts but Digger now has no choice but to pay attention.  The result of his company’s drilling, an enormous iceberg has broken away and is hurtling its way towards Europe.  The projected loss of life, on the back of huge tidal waves, will be catastrophic. 

A few sequences drag on too long, but I love Iñárritu’s ambition and Cruise’s go-for-broke performance.  It’s a film with something to say about the environment, wealth, politics, power, art, humour, and parody.  Audience reactions will vary (some may want a ticket refund) but as soon as the apt closing credits rolled, I’ve been reflecting on its interesting themes.  I’m also a fan of the general insanity, often illogical, that infuses each scene.

Cruise’s last decade has been dominated by action-heavy franchise movies so it’s nice to see him utilising other elements of his acting range.  Featuring distinctive facial make-up, he portrays Digger as an annoying “show pony” who is forever interrupting and talking over the top of others.  I’m more mixed on the supporting cast.  Several feel underutilized, such as Sandra Hüller and Michael Stuhlbarg, but others make a strong impact as evidenced by a hilariously deadpan Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal).

Bolstered by its distinctive production values, Digger isn’t perfect but it’s still one of this year’s “nuttiest” films.