Shadows on the Wall

Digger

Review by Rich Cline | MUST SEE

dir Alejandro G Inarritu
scr Alejandro G Inarritu, Alexander Dinelaris, Nicolas Giacobone, Sabina Berman
prd Alejandro G Inarritu, Mary Parent, Tom Cruise, Michael Sharp
with Tom Cruise, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Huller, Jesse Plemons, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sophie Wilde, Emma D'Arcy, Robert John Burke, Burn Gorman, Pip Torrens, Mercedes Hernandez
release US/UK 2.Oct.26
26/UK Warners 2h09

TORONTO FILM FEST

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Looking at where we are right now from a provocative perspective, this maximalist satire feels like the lovechild of Ari Aster and Wes Anderson by way of Dr Strangelove. It's also pure Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, an ambitiously layered genre mashup that takes on the most urgent issues facing the world right now. The result is jaw-dropping cinema, utterly bonkers as it navigates a series of bracingly pointed moments.

In his lavish manor, billionaire Digger Rockwell (Cruise) runs a global oil-drilling empire. But an ignored crack at his site in Greenland results in a massive ice shelf that will deliver catastrophic floods to Europe. While his chief scientist Ganesh (Ahmed) delivers the awful truth, Digger wants to simply rewrite the news. As does the increasingly unwell US President Compson (Goodman), who gets Vice President Eddie (Stuhlbarg) to take the fall. But things are becoming more perilous by the moment, leading to a riot at European Parliament and a last-gasp attempt to prevent another calamity.

Early on, it becomes clear that we are watching a pivotal moment in human history, as everyone scrambles to avoid becoming the scapegoat for decades of human inaction on climate change, unfettered capitalism and government collusion. Scenes spill into each other, with the occasional foray into private dramas and scenes involving characters who break the fourth wall. It's a lot to watch and, even if some subplots are underdeveloped, it's absolutely dazzling.

At the centre, Cruise delivers a huge performance that continually takes the breath away with explosive outbursts, because Digger is shouting the truth everyone else pretends not to know. It's a grandstanding performance, augmented by makeup, costumes and mind-boggling sets. And it's laced with movingly intimate glimpses under the bluster. All of his interaction is riveting, but the most magnetic is with Digger's no-nonsense sister Emma (Huller), even if the role is somewhat underwritten. Ahmed is another standout, as are Wilde and Plemons as key meta-characters.

You can either love or hate this film for its excesses, but dismissing it reveals that you are the problem. Even with multiple narrative layers in spectacularly mind-boggling settings, the through-line is razor-sharp. It's impossible to miss the parallels in today's political, media, military and business landscapes, so it's impressive that the film rises above partisan messaging. Instead, it feels like a yearning ode to where we've been and where we are now, and also to a future we wish we didn't have to face.

themes, language, violence 22.Sep.26 wp

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