Digger joins the ranks of these unsubtle, borderline noxious films; it features fiery accidents, signs of planetary collapse, bumbling bureaucrats, casual sexism, decaying pet animals, and bouts of senseless violence. But it also stars Tom Cruise in one of his weirdest roles ever, which is truly a delight to watch.

…

The answers offered by Digger will certainly alienate some audiences. During tech rehearsal, Hannah explodes at Markson, saying the purpose of art is to comfort the dispossessed, especially those whose families were lost or displaced by climate change. The point, she argues, is to laugh at Markson as Rockwell, and the sooner he gets onboard, the better. At this point, the viewer learns that an iceberg really did take untold lives throughout Europe, and the play is a cult classic detailing how the Rockwell family attempted to profit off of disaster.

Exactly why and how the play is being staged 25 years after these horrific events is a juicy twist I won’t share here. Suffice to say, Digger is concerned with legacy, and Iñárritu, the first and only Mexican filmmaker to have won the Academy Award for Best Picture twice, clearly is too. “The movie is not perfect,” he told the New York Times in a recent interview. He did it anyway because, as he put it, “I like taking risks.”