DIGGER is insane.

I knew it was leaning that direction. The trailer gave enough evidence. But I was still not prepared for the pivot about a quarter of the way into the movie, when DIGGER stops being whatever I thought it was and becomes something much stranger, bolder, louder, weirder, and more artistically electric.

This will not be everyone’s cup of tea. I don’t know if I’ll ever see it again. But that does not change the fact that this is one of the best movies of the year.

Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, DIGGER stars Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a larger-than-life oil baron whose drilling operation triggers a global disaster. The official synopsis positions the film as Iñárritu’s original story, shot in VistaVision and released in theaters and IMAX, with Cruise leading a cast that includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Jesse Plemons. The screenplay is credited to Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, and Sabina Berman, from a story by Berman, Iñárritu, and Jez Butterworth.

The plot starts with Digger Rockwell, a bombastic energy titan whose company has pushed too far and drilled too recklessly. When the consequences of that greed threaten to spiral into catastrophe, the movie brings in scientists, politicians, business partners, enablers, and opportunists, all trying to control or exploit a crisis that may already be past the point of no return. Riz Ahmed plays Ganesh, a scientist trying to explain the scale of the disaster, while John Goodman appears as the U.S. president and Michael Stuhlbarg as the vice president.

That sounds like the setup for a big environmental satire, and it is. But DIGGER is also something else. It is a movie about ego. About performance. About power. About the absurdity of powerful people trying to talk, posture, and spin their way out of consequences that physics, nature, and reality do not care about.

And then the movie pivots.

That pivot is where people are going to split hard on DIGGER. Some will go with it. Some will absolutely not. I went with it.

This thing is flowing with artistic energy. Every frame feels like someone swinging for the fences with both hands and no helmet. It is messy in ways that feel alive. It is ambitious in ways that feel dangerous. It is the kind of movie that reminds you how thrilling it can be when major filmmakers and major movie stars decide to do something completely bonkers instead of sanding off every rough edge for maximum four-quadrant comfort.

Tom Cruise is a powerhouse here. Not “movie star doing movie star things” Tom Cruise. This is weird, loud, physically committed, full-send Tom Cruise. He throws himself into Digger Rockwell with the kind of intensity that makes the whole movie vibrate.

Riz Ahmed is also a powerhouse, and that is saying something because this cast is a dream team. Ahmed gives the movie urgency and moral clarity without making Ganesh feel like a bland “smart guy explains the plot” character. He is one of the few people in the room who seems to understand the true scale of what is happening, and watching him try to get anyone with power to actually listen is maddening in the best way.

The supporting cast is stacked. John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, Sophie Wilde, Emma D’Arcy, Robert John Burke, and Burn Gorman are all part of the ensemble, according to the film’s cast listings.

Iñárritu is one of my favorite directors, and DIGGER is exactly why. Even when he is polarizing, even when he is pushing too hard, even when the whole thing feels one degree away from flying off the rails, there is no mistaking the hand behind the camera. This is not anonymous filmmaking. This is not content. This is cinema with a pulse, a fever, and maybe a gas leak.

It also looks massive. The film was shot entirely in VistaVision and released in IMAX, and you can feel that scale in the way the images loom. Digger Movie There are shots here that feel dreamlike, grotesque, and theatrical all at once. The movie is big, but not in the usual “look how much money we spent” way. It is big emotionally. Big visually. Big thematically. Big in the way a movie can be when it actually has the nerve to be too much.

And yes, this is going to see awards love as we roll out of 2026 and move closer to the Academy Awards. It should. Cruise should be in the conversation. Ahmed should be in the conversation. The screenplay, direction, cinematography, production design, editing, makeup, sound, all of it feels like it could be part of the discussion.

Again, will everyone love this? Absolutely not.

Some people are going to bounce off it hard. Some will call it too loud, too weird, too self-important, too much. And honestly, I get it.

But give me too much over too little.

Give me bold over beige.

Give me insane over algorithmic.

DIGGER is a big, strange, ambitious, combustible movie from a filmmaker who refuses to play small and a movie star willing to look ridiculous, monstrous, funny, pathetic, and powerful all at once.

I don’t know if I’ll ever see it again.

But I’m glad I saw it once.

And I know I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

Grade: A

Listen to me discuss this live today on the KVNU For The People Movie Show, or check back later for the podcast. Missed the trailer? I got you below!