Highlights
- Tom Cruise’s Digger has divided critics, with reactions ranging from “brilliant” and “magnificent” to “baffling” and “insufferable”.
- Warner Bros has used the sharply divided reviews in a new advert telling audiences to “decide for yourself”.
- The film currently has a 52 per cent Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, while its score among Top Critics stands at 33 per cent.
- Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Digger also stars Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, John Goodman and Jesse Plemons.
Tom Cruise’s new film Digger has sparked a bizarre split among critics, with early reactions landing at very different ends of the spectrum.
Warner Bros has now made that divide part of the film’s marketing, placing praise for the film alongside harsh criticism before telling audiences to “decide for yourself”.
Critics are split over Digger
The new advert switches between opposing reactions to the film, including “brilliant” and “baffling” as well as “magnificent” and “insufferable”.
It ends with the line: “Same film, different truth.”
The reactions come from film influencers who saw Digger at early screenings and shared their responses after the social media embargo was lifted. The critical response has been similarly divided.
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman described the film as “nervy, in your face, adventurous, and bizarro”, while Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri called it “a torturous experience”.
The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin gave Digger four stars and described it as the “most bonkers film of the year”.
The Los Angeles Times’ Amy Nicholson said she did not “entirely love” the strange comedy but was “giddy” that it had been made.
The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey was less impressed, awarding the film two stars and writing that it arrives “with all the force of a light breeze”.
What is Digger about?
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Digger stars Cruise as Digger Rockwell, a wealthy and politically powerful oil tycoon whose drilling operation causes a catastrophic environmental disaster. When a huge piece of ice breaks away from Greenland and threatens Europe, Digger attempts to convince the world that he can help solve the crisis he helped create.
Cruise is joined by Riz Ahmed, who plays scientist Ganesh, while John Goodman stars as President Compson. Sandra Hüller plays Digger’s half-sister Emma Rockwell, with Michael Stuhlbarg as the vice president and Jesse Plemons as Kenny.
Digger review scores
The sharply divided reaction is also reflected in the film’s review scores. Digger currently has a 52 per cent Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.1 out of 10.
Among Rotten Tomatoes’ Top Critics, the score is lower at 33 per cent from 39 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 44 out of 100 from 41 critics.
The film is currently Iñárritu’s lowest-rated feature on Rotten Tomatoes, falling below Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, which previously held the position with 60 per cent.
Digger is set to be released in cinemas on 2 October.
