When I noticed how divided reactions were to Digger, I almost decided to skip it in the theater. I’m so glad I didn’t because Alejandro Iñárritu has given us some of the best satire of the decade with this film. The trailer gives the impression that it is about the destruction of the environment due to a disaster caused by big oil companies, but really the film is about how we handle such events years, even decades, later. As the film unfolds, the viewer realizes that Tom Cruise’s character Digger is really an actor playing Digger in the rehearsals for a play based on Digger’s life. Digger was the CEO of a large oil conglomerate that causes several natural disasters the hastened the melting of the polar ice caps and contributed to permanent poor air quality.
The play, written as a satirical dramedy, became popularized in the film’s society because it gave people catharsis about the current state of the world. They could watch Digger with all of his eccentricities and his dying cat and they could lament everything he did while also cheering on his eventual death. I mean, I get it. I’ve had my heart broken so many times that Midsommar is a comfort movie for me, so I get why the people suffering through the slow end of society would cheer on the death of the guy who majorly contributed to their current situation.
What is even greater about this is that the fictional actor playing Digger has a total existential crisis of his own about the play. About whether or not the satire is appropriate given the state of the world. The director of the play flat out tells him that if we can’t laugh about our situation, and how awful it is and how it’s totally out of our control, then what is the point of anything? And she’s right.
I also loved how that cat – an obvious prop – is a metaphor for our dying world. Kept alive for our own selfish needs while we do nothing to keep it healthy. Digger feeds the cat using an overly long fingernail on his pinky, and the last thing the cat does before it dies is bites that finger with it’s last remaining tooth. Digger can’t understand why until someone points out that he likely gave the cat mercury poisoning from feeding it cans of tuna it’s entire life. The cat was just repaying the favor. Kind of like our weather now, yeah? We wreck the environment and it sends hurricanes, tornados, drought, wildfires, and oppressive heat.
Tom Cruise and John Goodman are so very good in this. I’ll be shocked if they aren’t in the Oscar race in the next few months. Goodman stands out as the president during these disasters and he embodies the worst aspects of every terrible world leader in recent memory, and he’s dying of butt cancer because of course he is. Riz Ahmed plays a scientist who grows frustrated with having to explain how Digger caused the collapse of an entire ice shelf and watching him finally lose it in front of a room full of world leaders is truly a hilarious experience. Jesse Plemmons is memorable too even though his appearance is limited.
The stark color pallet – muted browns and grays with the occasional splash of red – shows a world that has lost it’s luster. It’s dying a slow death, and sucking all the color out of the world along with it. Set the actor’s colorful performances against this muted tone, and it makes the performances stand out even further.
Honestly, I don’t understand the hate the film received from so many folks. It had me in stitches laughing, especially the ongoing bit with the cat and Riz Ahmed’s exacerbated expressions. I also loved the satirical take on how billionaires are carelessly destroying the world around us for the sake of making an extra dollar, and the world leaders do nothing to stop it. As the director of the play pointed out, if you can’t have a laugh at the things you can’t control, then what’s the point of it all?
4 out of 5 stars. Go see this in the theater or you’ll regret it later when you discover it on streaming.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
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When I noticed how divided reactions were to Digger, I almost decided to skip it in the theater. I’m so glad I didn’t because Alejandro Iñárritu has given us some of the best satire of the decade with this film. The trailer gives the impression that it is about the destruction of the environment due to a disaster caused by big oil companies, but really the film is about how we handle such events years, even decades, later. As the film unfolds, the viewer realizes that Tom Cruise’s character Digger is really an actor playing Digger in the rehearsals for a play based on Digger’s life. Digger was the CEO of a large oil conglomerate that causes several natural disasters the hastened the melting of the polar ice caps and contributed to permanent poor air quality.
The play, written as a satirical dramedy, became popularized in the film’s society because it gave people catharsis about the current state of the world. They could watch Digger with all of his eccentricities and his dying cat and they could lament everything he did while also cheering on his eventual death. I mean, I get it. I’ve had my heart broken so many times that Midsommar is a comfort movie for me, so I get why the people suffering through the slow end of society would cheer on the death of the guy who majorly contributed to their current situation.
What is even greater about this is that the fictional actor playing Digger has a total existential crisis of his own about the play. About whether or not the satire is appropriate given the state of the world. The director of the play flat out tells him that if we can’t laugh about our situation, and how awful it is and how it’s totally out of our control, then what is the point of anything? And she’s right.
I also loved how that cat – an obvious prop – is a metaphor for our dying world. Kept alive for our own selfish needs while we do nothing to keep it healthy. Digger feeds the cat using an overly long fingernail on his pinky, and the last thing the cat does before it dies is bites that finger with it’s last remaining tooth. Digger can’t understand why until someone points out that he likely gave the cat mercury poisoning from feeding it cans of tuna it’s entire life. The cat was just repaying the favor. Kind of like our weather now, yeah? We wreck the environment and it sends hurricanes, tornados, drought, wildfires, and oppressive heat.
Tom Cruise and John Goodman are so very good in this. I’ll be shocked if they aren’t in the Oscar race in the next few months. Goodman stands out as the president during these disasters and he embodies the worst aspects of every terrible world leader in recent memory, and he’s dying of butt cancer because of course he is. Riz Ahmed plays a scientist who grows frustrated with having to explain how Digger caused the collapse of an entire ice shelf and watching him finally lose it in front of a room full of world leaders is truly a hilarious experience. Jesse Plemmons is memorable too even though his appearance is limited.
The stark color pallet – muted browns and grays with the occasional splash of red – shows a world that has lost it’s luster. It’s dying a slow death, and sucking all the color out of the world along with it. Set the actor’s colorful performances against this muted tone, and it makes the performances stand out even further.
Honestly, I don’t understand the hate the film received from so many folks. It had me in stitches laughing, especially the ongoing bit with the cat and Riz Ahmed’s exacerbated expressions. I also loved the satirical take on how billionaires are carelessly destroying the world around us for the sake of making an extra dollar, and the world leaders do nothing to stop it. As the director of the play pointed out, if you can’t have a laugh at the things you can’t control, then what’s the point of it all?
4 out of 5 stars. Go see this in the theater or you’ll regret it later when you discover it on streaming.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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