The new film Digger, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and starring Tom Cruise as an oil baron, has drawn a scathing review from Grist's climate reporter. The movie follows Digger Rockwell, a Texas-accented plutocrat whose offshore drilling triggers a Greenland ice sheet collapse that sends a massive iceberg toward Europe. The critic notes the character evokes real-life fracking billionaire Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources, a major fossil fuel producer.
The review's central complaint is that the film is a heavy-handed parable that tells viewers only what they already know. The plot includes a "firewall" to censor climate terms, a president suggesting bombing the iceberg, and repeated screaming matches about methane and the stock market. The critic says the film's satire is less effective than Adam McKay's Don't Look Up, and that over half the movie consists of characters shouting at each other.
The reviewer does credit some aesthetic choices, like the mix of Wes Anderson and Thomas Hart Benton visuals, and jokes that will appeal to climate-aware audiences. But ultimately, the critic argues the film fails to answer its own questions about responsibility and artistic approach, leaving even the most climate-conscious viewers exhausted. The source is a single review, so it represents one critic's opinion rather than a consensus.