Digger (2026)
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A stage actor and a ruthless oil tycoon find their lives intertwined through a satirical play about a looming environmental catastrophe.
The story
Curtis Markson is the lead actor in Fossil Fools, a satirical stage play about historical oil tycoon Digger Rockwell. Before the premiere, Curtis learns that his daughter was aboard a plane from Jamaica that disappeared after encountering a hurricane. The producer, Kenny, offers to locate her using his private intelligence network. In the play, Digger is an aging oil magnate who colludes with U.S. President Compson to allow Digger's company, Rockwell United, to extract oil in Alaska and Greenland. After repeatedly ignoring reports of methane beneath the Greenland oil field, Digger learns that an explosion has destroyed the Greenland rig and dislodged an ice shelf, threatening the safety of the region.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Curtis Markson stars in a play about Digger Rockwell, an oil tycoon whose company's negligence leads to a massive ice shelf breaking off and heading toward Europe. While the play depicts the political fallout and the decision to use nuclear weapons against the ice, the real-world plot follows Curtis as he searches for his missing daughter. The play's narrative involves a conspiracy to hide the environmental damage caused by Rockwell United. As the play reaches its climax, Curtis suffers a breakdown on stage, and Kenny reveals he is Digger's nephew. The story concludes with a surreal transition: after the play's finale, the audience discovers the world has been devastated by the very catastrophe the play satirized, leaving them in a ruined city. Digger, the character, ends his life on an offshore platform while the audience cheers his 'death' on stage.
- First release year
- 2026
- Runtime (minutes)
- 129
- Production countries
- Mexico; United Kingdom; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Alejandro G. Iñárritu
- Cast and characters
- Tom Cruise · Curtis Markson and Digger Rockwell; Riz Ahmed · Dr. Nirav Ganesh; John Goodman · Compson; Sandra Hüller · Emma Rockwell; Michael Stuhlbarg · Eddie; Jesse Plemons · Kenny Rockwell; Robert John Burke · Fitzgerald; Emma D'Arcy · Lina
- Genres
- satirical black comedy
- Themes
- environmental catastrophe; corporate greed; the blurring of fiction and reality
- Tone and mood
- satirical; dark; tense
- Setting
- A theater and a devastated, post-apocalyptic world following an environmental disaster.
- Premise and plot tags
- metaphorical; political satire
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, with some praising the performances and satire while others criticized its length and self-importance.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 6.1 · scale: 10 · review count: 233; Metacritic · score: 45 · scale: 100 · review count: 56
- Production trivia
- The film was shot on 35 mm film using VistaVision.; The production was originally greenlit on a $125 million budget.; The film was shot under the working title Judy.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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