The movie is a satire. But is it really?

Tom Cruise’s riskiest role to date in Digger has divided critics, with reviews of the film ranging from ‘a masterpiece’ to ‘insufferable’.

The big budget black comedy was positioned as a major awards contender for the actor, as he underwent a dramatic transformation to take on the role of an eccentric oil tycoon who unknowingly sparks an ecological disaster.

Reviews for the film have been hugely mixed, with one noting that the role is indeed a bold one for Tom, given his decades-long reputation for big budget blockbusters.

The film opened at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews split between raves and attacks and almost nothing in between.

The London Evening Standard gave it five stars and called it audacious, risky, terrific fun. The Boston Globe gave it zero and called it the worst movie of Tom Cruise’s career. The Globe and Mail said its smug set pieces add up to something loud, ugly, and convinced of a brilliance it doesn’t have. The Hollywood Reporter called it a climate satire so bombastic it makes Don’t Look Up look mild, and doubted mainstream audiences would want to sit through it.

Admirers were just as emphatic. Deadline said the film’s director, Alejandro Iñárritu, again proves he’s one of the most original filmmakers working, calling Digger a rare large-scale satire that’s entertaining, argumentative, and alive enough to make viewers ask what they’re doing.

Since Digger is a satire, one would think that it is really a troll effort revealing how stupid or morally bankrupt climate change alarmism truly is. However, a review at Hollywood in Toto puts that notion to bed.

Endless speeches, most involving the horrors of Climate Change and how dern evil oil is. Cruise’s Digger gets an extended closeup where he rants, raves and reveals the truth about oil and culture, Christian Toto says. We need it. We crave it. We’ll risk everything to burn it. So this is all our fault.

Not surprisingly, Digger is on path to go bust at the box office.

According to reports, Digger — the first non-action movie that Tom Cruise is starring in in over a decade — could potentially become the biggest box office bomb of 2026, as it’s tracking to make just $12 million in its opening weekend — a number that will likely drop precipitously in its second weekend following likely poor word-of-mouth.

Digger will follow a similar path to Al Gore’s. It’s delivery is so poor that it will help the opposition.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay