Digger is one of the most revelatory and devastatingly prescient films in years. With sharply witty dialogue, a brilliantly crafted narrative, and a concept so bold it perfectly frames its story.
Director Alejandro Iñárritu (Birdman) combines classic storytelling with a deconstruction of what it means to use art to control the narrative. In a post-truth age, the film is a must watch.
The film’s commentary on greed, late capitalism, and the problems that stem from oligarchy is excellent. The screenwriters apply a post-structuralist approach to their story allowing them to comment on the nature of storytelling and truth itself. To say more is to get into the specifics of how the film does it, which would take away from the surprises the film has in store.
Tom Cruise is transformative as billionaire Digger Rockwell. He feels entirely bombastic, like a caricature of a cowboy mixed with an oil baron. And yet, still displays the recognisable arrogance and charm of modern American exceptionalism.
Visually, the film has a grainy Western aesthetic that lends it a nostalgic and grand feel, contrasted by harsh blues and cold whites reflecting the terribly sad reality of the crisis at hand. Iñárritu offers us beautifully crafted stable shots, often with mesmerising symmetrical backdrops of intricately designed sets across Digger’s ornate mansion, while shots of the wider environment are sprawling and beautiful while still being utterly surreal.
It is clear that the screenwriters understand the moment we are living through. In a polycrisis society, the script tackles the climate crisis, the gerontocracy in world government, the onslaught of AI misinformation, and wraps all of it in a commentary about how late-capitalist greed has led us here. That narrative is weaved by showing how corporations more powerful than governments have made decisions which were tacitly encourage by complicit consumers to create the world-ending scenario we’re quickly barreling towards.
This review ought to say one more thing. Which is that there is no way to truly talk about Digger without spoiling it. That is why this non-spoiler review urges you to see it for yourself while the element of surprise may still remain.
Digger is in cinemas October 2, and in Australian cinemas October 1.
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