Tom Cruise's latest film Digger has flopped spectacularly at the box office, but critic Sian Cain argues it is a misunderstood masterpiece. The film, directed by Alejandro G Iñárritu, is projected to lose around $150m after taking just $20m globally in its opening weekend.
A film critics couldn't spoil
Media screenings around the world opened with a plea from Warner Bros to not spoil the film's central reveal. This may have been a misstep, as curiosity and Cruise alone were not enough to draw audiences. Warner Bros has tried to spin the situation, first highlighting the negative reviews – "insufferable" and "smug" have been repeated – then pivoting to suggest that American audiences don't get it.
The real story behind the marketing
Despite the marketing, Cruise isn't really playing Digger Rockwell, a fictional oil tycoon. He plays Curtis Markson, an actor portraying Rockwell onstage in a satirical play decades after the rig exploded and left the world in ruins. The play, titled Fossil Fools, is directed by Hannah (Sophie Wilde) and funded by Rockwell's nephew Kenny (Jesse Plemons).
Cain, who has seen the film twice, calls it "brilliantly audacious" and "the best fictional work about the climate crisis" she has seen, because it addresses art's inability to speak truthfully to the moment. The film explores perception and reality, and how vulnerability to charismatic voices leaves us exposed.
A speech that embodies the film's point
In one key scene, Kenny tells Curtis and Hannah: "It really doesn't matter. Satire, comedy, farce, drama – it doesn't matter. You're both right. We're all right. Now what?" This moment, Cain says, stayed with her.
Cain notes that many don't need a film to tell them climate change is terrifying, or that greed is degrading the planet. But she appreciates that a blockbuster with enormous stars poses the question: what does art mean at the end of the world? Iñárritu's answer, she suggests, is that we settle for distraction and someone to blame.
In the end, Curtis plays Digger as a clown and gets a standing ovation, before an alarm signals a horrifying reality outside and the audience put on gas masks. Cain concludes that while critics may argue the metatextual faff is a lazy defence, the reviews seem unable to distinguish between Fossil Fools and Digger. Her advice: "You should probably go see it yourself."
