Tom Cruise’s new film Digger is very different from the kind of blockbuster audiences might expect from the Mission: Impossible star. Directed by Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the darkly comic film sees Cruise play a wealthy oil tycoon whose attempt to control a global crisis turns into a fight to save humanity.
Cruise is almost unrecognisable in the role of Digger Rockwell, appearing with a grey comb-over, facial prosthetics and a padded body suit to transform himself into the eccentric billionaire.
But the transformation is only part of what makes Digger such an unusual new film for the actor.
The movie combines dark comedy, environmental disaster, political satire and surreal drama, with Cruise’s character finding himself at the centre of a catastrophe that threatens the future of the planet.
Here’s what Digger is about, who stars in it and when you can see Tom Cruise’s new film in cinemas.
What is Digger about?
Digger follows Digger Rockwell, an immensely powerful oil tycoon who believes he can solve almost any problem through money, influence and sheer force of personality.
That confidence is put to the ultimate test when an environmental catastrophe threatens to spiral into a global crisis.
According to the film’s official synopsis, Rockwell embarks on a desperate mission to convince the world that he is its saviour before the disaster he has helped unleash destroys everything.
The story centres on the contradiction at the heart of Rockwell’s character.
He has enormous power and resources, but his actions have helped create the very crisis he is now attempting to fix.
Recent coverage of the film reveals that the catastrophe involves a massive glacier breaking away from Greenland, with the resulting events pushing the world towards the possibility of nuclear conflict.
Rather than playing the character as a straightforward villain, Cruise’s performance moves between outrageous comedy and something considerably darker.
Who does Tom Cruise play in Digger?
Tom Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, a wealthy and eccentric oil magnate.
It is one of Cruise’s most dramatic physical transformations.
The actor appears with a grey hairstyle, altered facial features and a padded suit designed to give Rockwell a very different appearance from the famously athletic Cruise audiences are used to seeing.
The transformation reportedly took hours in makeup when the production first began testing the look.
Cruise has described Rockwell as an unusually challenging character, while the film’s secrecy has deliberately kept much of the story away from audiences before release.
Is Digger a comedy?
Yes, but it’s not a conventional comedy.
Digger has been described as a satirical dark comedy, mixing absurd humour with an increasingly serious environmental disaster.
The BBFC classifies the film as a comedy and describes it as a satirical dark comedy about a powerful man attempting to portray himself as humanity’s saviour after unleashing a disaster.
The film has also been compared to Dr. Strangelove because of its combination of political satire, global catastrophe and dark humour.
That makes Digger quite different from the action-driven films that have dominated Cruise’s recent career.
What happens in Digger?
Spoilers ahead.
The central crisis begins when an environmental disaster threatens to destabilise the world.
Digger Rockwell, whose business interests are connected to the catastrophe, attempts to take control of the situation.
His response is increasingly extreme as the consequences grow, with the crisis threatening to develop into something far larger than an environmental disaster.
The film’s story also brings Rockwell into conflict with political leaders and scientists, including John Goodman’s U.S. President and Riz Ahmed’s scientist Ganesh.
Rather than simply being a disaster movie, Digger uses the unfolding catastrophe to explore questions around power, greed, responsibility and the belief that money and influence can solve everything.
Cruise himself has described the film as being concerned with power, greed and the difference between responsibility and irresponsibility.
Who stars in Digger?
Tom Cruise leads a major ensemble cast.
The main cast includes:
- Tom Cruise as Digger Rockwell
- Riz Ahmed
- John Goodman
- Sandra Hüller
- Jesse Plemons
- Michael Stuhlbarg
- Emma D’Arcy
- Sophie Wilde
The film also reunites Iñárritu with several major creative collaborators, including cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, who has won three Academy Awards.
Who directed Digger?
Digger is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the Mexican filmmaker behind Birdman, The Revenant and Babel.
Iñárritu won the Academy Award for Best Director for both Birdman and The Revenant, making his collaboration with Cruise one of the most intriguing aspects of the new movie.
The project has reportedly been in development for almost a decade. Iñárritu has said the original idea began after he finished The Revenant, although it took years to find the right way to tell the story.
When is Digger released?
Digger is released in UK cinemas on Friday, October 2, 2026.
The film is also being released in US cinemas on October 2, following its international rollout beginning on September 30.
It will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and will also receive an IMAX release.
The BBFC has classified the film as a 15, with a running time of approximately 129 minutes.
Is Digger a Tom Cruise action movie?
Not in the traditional sense.
While Cruise is synonymous with major action franchises including Mission: Impossible and Top Gun, Digger is much more of a satirical character piece and dark comedy.
There is still spectacle — the story involves a huge environmental catastrophe and the fate of the world — but the focus is on Cruise’s bizarre character and Iñárritu’s satirical take on power and human behaviour.
That makes it one of the more unusual films of Cruise’s career.
Why does Tom Cruise look so different in Digger?
Cruise underwent an extensive physical transformation to play Digger Rockwell.
The character has grey hair, a different facial structure and a significantly larger physique, created through a combination of makeup, prosthetics and a padded suit.
The transformation was designed to make the character feel completely separate from Cruise’s familiar action-hero persona. Variety reported that the initial makeup process took as long as six hours.
What is Digger really about?
At its heart, Digger is about power and responsibility.
Digger Rockwell is a man who has spent his life believing he can influence the world around him. When an environmental catastrophe threatens to destroy everything, he tries to use that same power to become the person who saves humanity.
The irony is that he may also be responsible for creating the crisis in the first place.
That gives Iñárritu’s film its central satirical idea: what happens when the person who helped cause the disaster decides he should also be the one to save the world?
With Cruise playing a character unlike almost anything he has tackled before, Digger is shaping up to be one of the most unexpected films of his career.
Digger is in cinemas from October 2, 2026.
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