Tom Cruise's 'Digger' Seems Like a Typical Black Comedy — But It Has More Up Its Sleeve

Earth is on the verge of ruin — because of one man. Digger Rockwell (Tom Cruise), head of an oil-drilling company, scoffs when told a shaft in Greenland has developed a crack. Not long after, that drilling facility explodes. Before the damage can be assessed, an iceberg torn away by the blast threatens the world. How will Digger—who has spent his life pulling the levers of global power—resolve this crisis?

Alejandro González Iñárritu, the director of 〈Birdman〉 and 〈The Revenant〉, teamed with Tom Cruise for 〈Digger〉, a pairing that has generated considerable buzz. The film bills itself as a "disaster comedy." It may be hard to imagine how disaster and comedy can combine, but several directors have already used satire to deliver successful disaster comedies that critique contemporary society. So the central question is this: how has Iñárritu crafted a new disaster comedy?

If anything, 〈Digger〉 comes closest to a conventional black comedy. It opens with ornate, vintage shots that recall the film classic 〈Citizen Kane〉, then quickly establishes what kind of man Digger is: his fixation on Mary, a cat on the verge of death, and the way he intimidates an employee who reports a rupture in a drilling shaft. Tom Cruise, aided by heavy makeup and a heightened performance style, turns Digger Rockwell into an arrogant, hard-driving operator.

Against the backdrop of an escalating global calamity, President Compson (John Goodman) and the U.S. government are portrayed in much the same way amid the spiraling global disaster. Compson is quick to dodge responsibility—declaring, "Why is this my fault?"—and then has a pastor pray over him, underscoring his selfish, overbearing nature. The defense secretary is obsessed with how to use military force, while the vice president is a weak figure who cannot articulate a coherent position. The ensemble they create echoes the archetypes of political black comedy. By contrast, more conscientious figures around Digger—Dr. Ganesh (Riz Ahmed), who works under him, and Digger's sister Emma Rockwell (Sandra Hüller), the head of an alternative-energy company—are also satirized, but they keep the story from tipping entirely into comedy.

What elevates this black comedy is the presence of cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. He reunites with Iñárritu more than 10 years after 〈The Revenant〉; as with their earlier collaborations (〈Birdman〉, 〈The Revenant〉), which earned him Academy Awards for cinematography, his fluid camera work amplifies both the urgency of situations and their comic beats. The film also frequently employs analog props and effects by contemporary standards, which, combined with its vintage sets, produces a distinctive synergy.

But 〈Digger〉's clear strengths also create clear limitations. Lubezki's cinematography leans heavily on wide-angle and low-angle shots to accentuate space in keeping with the director's aims, and that approach may present a barrier to some viewers. True to his specialty, the visuals are immaculate, but because the film is composed largely in that style it can sometimes feel stifling or repetitive. Also, as a black comedy the film is very dialogue-heavy, which makes following it with subtitles considerably harder than it would be for English-speaking audiences. These two factors could be felt as drawbacks in large-format IMAX screenings, where the very scale that justifies premium presentation might instead work against the film.

Yet 〈Digger〉 has a distinct feature that the marketing has mostly kept under wraps, and I recommend seeing the film without knowing that element if possible. It may put off some viewers, but because it ties directly to the movie's message and is genuinely unique to this work, it could be the very reason to see 〈Digger〉. In fact, my earlier use of the word "typical" applies only to the parts already public; the film's true value can be known only by watching it. It's the kind of picture that will stay with you long after the screening. After Alejandro González Iñárritu and Tom Cruise visited Korea, 〈Digger〉 will open in theaters there on Oct. 3.

There is no post-credits scene, but it is still worth staying through the main end credits.