What Is Really Going on in Digger? The New Tom Cruise Movie, Explained
You may have heard, but if you didn’t, let us clue you in: Tom Cruise is back. But, his new movie, Digger, is exceedingly divisive and definitely requires a little explanation.
Yes, the world’s biggest movie star has begun his latest tour of the world for his latest starring role in Digger, the new satirical dramedy from Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the filmmaker behind Birdman, Amores Perros, and The Revenant.
But, like with all of Iñárritu's films, not everything is quite what it seems, and Digger is perhaps going to be the filmmaker's most polarising film thus far. The swings, like those of its central character with his famous shovel, are big, bold but not always beautiful. Here's what it's all about...
SPOILERS AHEAD.
Who Is Digger?
Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, arguably the richest and most powerful man in the world, who has made his fortune as an oil tycoon. He has direct contact with the President of the United States (John Goodman), who trusts his judgement as his number one go-to guy.
However, Digger’s company has caused a catastrophic environmental accident in Greenland due to persistent drilling, and a methane leak at one of his operations causes a huge explosion, knocking loose Greenland’s ice shelf. It is heading for Europe, which would cause a disaster unheard of in modern times, so explains Dr Nirav Ganesh, a scientist and Digger’s head of environmental safety, played by Riz Ahmed.
Digger, the President, and their best aides are set into action, but the irony of it all is that the man responsible for the catastrophe is seemingly the only man who can stop it. After deciding to bomb the missing ice shelf, the President asks to talk to Digger privately, as is normal for the pair. But, in a room full of taxidermy and other strange artefacts, we are stopped in our tracks…
Who Is Tom Cruise Really Playing in Digger?
While talking to the President, they both look out over Digger’s vast mansion and the woodland areas surrounding it as a tree tumbles over of its own accord. Then, a stagehand enters the frame, stands the tree back upright and tries to fix what we discover is actually a set.
Next, a director enters the frame and yells “cut”, and more stagehands enter the room. Digger, the President, and everything we have seen in the first half of the movie is a dress rehearsal of a play called Fossil Fools — and Digger is being portrayed by actor Curtis Markson, played by Cruise. You could hear a pin drop when the twist hit at a recent press screening; it catches everyone off guard, and your thoughts immediately change, for good or for bad, hence its extraordinarily divisive nature and the reviews thus far.
So, all the bluster, confidence, accent, mannerisms and strange walk are acting choices by Markson in portraying Digger, who was a real person in the play’s concept. He existed in the “real world” of the film, and Markson is one of the few actors over the years to play him in productions.
So, whilst the film is about a global disaster, billionaire power, political cowardice, ego, the media and fake news and who really controls the truth, it is also about the art of acting and the debate over “the method”, as well as how difficult some find it to play morally repugnant people. For Cruise, it is about playing someone who thinks they can save the world, but does not have the capacity to do so.
What Is the Play About in Digger?
The play at the heart of the film is called Fossil Fools, dramatising the story of the real Digger, the oil magnate whose company is responsible for the Greenland catastrophe.
We initially see the Greenland drilling accident, the ice shelf breaking away, the political panic, Digger’s attempts to control the situation and the eventual consequences. These are the play’s dramatisation of history, rather than events happening in the present.
But, the audience is laughing at him. Curtis is trying to portray him as a real human, but thinks the character is being reduced to a cartoonish villain, a caricature of who he really was. The play’s young director (Sophia Wilde) wants the play to amplify the broad satire: the play isn’t about Digger as a portrait of a man; it is about the absurdity of the people and systems that have caused the real crises. It has also been performed countless times by different companies — the play is a cult classic that audiences have lapped up, cheering when Digger dies.
Digger Ending, Explained
Thus, as Digger dies at the end of the play, having exhausted all his available avenues to avert political, geographical and personal disaster, the crowd cheers and a standing ovation erupts as the man responsible is brought to some form of justice.
Outside the theatre, however, is the “real” world; there are no cheers of delight, happiness or real catharsis, as the world is in crisis. As the cheering stops, a loud booming voice over the public address system says “Level Four Warning” and alarms sound.
The entire audience puts on special breathing masks as they exit the palatial surroundings and head back into reality — New York is a bleak dystopia. It is flooded, dark and raining; the air is polluted, and people are struggling to survive under authoritarian rule, with armoured soldiers and tanks filling the streets.
Despite the escape of watching a play about the end of the world, the real world still exists, and our own world will go the same way if those who make the choices for our future don’t start thinking differently.
It is the ultimate punchline from Iñárritu. Misery loves company, especially in art.
