Digger: A provocatively grim satire

Digger (2026) • View trailerFour stars (out of five); rated R, for relentless profanityAvailable via: Movie theatersBy Derrick Bang • Published in The Davis Enterprise, 10.11.26This film is for folks who felt that 2021’s Don’t Look Up was insufficiently cynical and depressing. Director Alejnadro G. Iñárritu’s dark-dark-dark comedy is highlighted by a bravura performance by Tom Cruise, successfully operating leagues out of his usual wheelhouse. Despite his best reasoned, well-researched arguments, U.S. Environmental Safety ChiefDr. Nirav Ganesh (Riz Ahmed, left) is unable to persuade oil tycoon Digger Rockwell(Tom Cruise) that his massive oil extraction operations are dangerous.The result is a brutally bleak cautionary saga that hits the target because so much of its script — by Iñárritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolás Giacobone, Sabina Berman and Jez Butterworth — is an uncomfortably accurate reflection of contemporary, real-world behavior by out-of-control power brokers.It's also a…