Digger is a mess. Tom Cruise and Alejandro G. Iñárritu are taking a massive swing here, but despite some great production design and a commitment to their big choices, not a whole lot works here. Cruise is good and Riz Ahmed is a highlight, but man this wasn’t enjoyable.#Digger pic.twitter.com/dCQEtDlSYG
— Joey Magidson (@JoeyMagidson) September 22, 2026
Actual reviews are coming in a few days, but critics can post their thoughts now
Despite the Tom Cruise press blitz, DIGGER tracking has dropped to a $19M domestic opening, per NRG. (Its screening for awards press on Friday also went horribly.) Maybe the marketing pivot will turn this around?
— Matthew Belloni (@MattBelloni) September 22, 2026
A.G. Iñárritu’s Digger is a brave and gorgeous art film that will not score with mainstream audiences but will play best for the Academy, especially crafts and actors. But critics will divide on Cruise. The tour-de-force amphitheater scene might put him across. Riz Ahmed is fab.
— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) September 22, 2026
Digger: watching Alejandro González Iñárritu try to construct a joke is like watching Frank Gehry try to draw a straight line.
— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) September 22, 2026
DIGGER: The problem with continuing to make statements about your own art and reflect on your own legacy is that you’ll eventually ruin both. A self-indulgent miscalculation from end to end.
— Ryan Lattanzio (@ryanlattanzio) September 22, 2026
