Digger

“Suck It Nature”.

This review will contain a spoiler, aka the film’s plot twist. If you don’t want to know it, please come back after you watch the film.

Digger tells the story of Digger Rockwell, an elderly second-generation Texan oil oligarch who has become one of the richest and most influential people in the world. He is loud, eccentric, uncultured, a somewhat stupid prick who doesn’t give a shit about anything except his wallet and, perhaps, his dying cat. When a catastrophe happens at his drilling site in Greenland, something he knew about but had no intention of doing anything about, it causes a massive environmental disaster that kills hundreds of thousands of people in Europe and essentially pushes the planet into a weather apocalypse. He seems to barely care, whether he is discussing it with the president, travelling to Europe to give a speech, or simply yelling at his employees because they are telling him things he doesn’t want to hear.

But the film’s plot twist is that roughly 30 minutes in, we learn that everything happening on screen is actually a theatrical production, and all the people in the film are actors who take breaks and rest between scenes. The play itself is being staged in this post-apocalyptic world by the original Digger’s heir, because within the film’s universe, this story actually happened a few decades ago, a play was later written about it, and now it is being performed for its 25th anniversary.

The filmmakers have gone to great lengths to protect this secret, and even before the screening, there is a request not to reveal the plot twist in your reactions. To be completely honest, it doesn’t create any kind of “wow” feeling or seem so important that it absolutely cannot be discussed and that knowing about it would somehow ruin the film. Because this is far from the most important thing about Digger.

Since I didn’t have the opportunity to see the film at a press screening or before the first fairly viral reviews appeared, the internet very clearly told me not to like this film in advance. But truly, I liked it way more than the media told me I would. Because despite Digger having quite a few problems, many of which are a direct result of director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and his screenwriting team, there are also plenty of genuinely good things here.

One of them is that it is quite a good play that looks absolutely grand. And this is where the incredible cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki deserves to be mentioned. The film looks so big, with so many elements and tiny details, despite the fact that we are essentially watching a fake play on a stage. Everything is staged so stylishly and richly that, simply because of how the film looks and how cool the cinematography is, it is already worth seeing.

The film is also quite expressive and passionate, and that is an admirable take.

Another major selling point is its cast, led by Tom Cruise. And it wasn’t particularly difficult for Cruise to surprise anyone with this role. He basically just had to stop being typical Tom Cruise for one film. But as a self-centered asshole, he is actually very convincing. However, what attracted me the most was the entire supporting cast, where I think the biggest MVP was Riz Ahmed. Sandra Hüller and Jesse Plemons also look excellent on screen, and overall, the cast gives probably everything they can within the limitations of this script. They become another important decoration and another reason to see the film.

But.

Digger stumbles over its own not-fully-realized ambitions, which were clearly there in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s mind. In many ways, you can compare this film to his iconic Birdman, only this time the film doesn’t quite manage to say everything it wants to say.

Obviously, this film is basically a visual representation of the “Eat the Rich” slogan, which ultimately turns into not the sharpest piece of social commentary. Because yes, the interplay between theatrical performance and real life looks cool, but at the same time, the story is told very clumsily despite all the passion and expression.

For a film that positions itself as a satire, it is simply not funny. Barely any jokes landed, and that was felt throughout the room.

The characters themselves are very flat, as is the way the film tries to deliver these ideas that are, on one hand, important, but on the other, things we have all known for a very long time: that the rich don’t give a shit about what happens to us, that they don’t give a shit about what happens to the planet, that an environmental catastrophe is waiting for all of us sooner or later, and that we are all part of the problem too.

There are several very strong monologues in the film. Take Tom Cruise’s character, for example, who, in an attempt to whitewash his reputation, loudly explains that we are complicit since we all require cheap resources for survival. Obvious? Yes. But that works, because it is true.

But one of the film’s most important monologues also belongs to Jesse Plemons, who basically once again lays out the entire point of the film for you, just in case the not-so-smart viewer somehow didn’t get it.

Ultimately, the film tries to tell too much, while simultaneously explaining every single step to the audience as obviously as possible. As a result, the structure becomes strange and uneven. You see the stupid joke that the film called Digger didn’t dig deep enough, right?

Maybe this film is an ode to our bizarre time. And maybe I am simply more hopeful than Alejandro G. Iñárritu and still believe that humanity has at least a tiny chance, while the film takes us towards an absolutely inevitable ending. Because, in the director’s eyes, we are basically that cat that died many years ago but still occasionally makes some noise because some rich, pot-bellied dude decided he wanted it to.

6/10