[Edaily Starin Choi Hee-jae Reporter] To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations. Tom Cruise was just a very famous Hollywood actor, the epitome of action, and the “Mission: Impossible” guy who visits Incheon International Airport more often than I do.

As soon as the movie started, my expectations were completely blown out of the water. I instantly understood why Tom Cruise said, “I’ve never taken on a project this challenging before,” and why the production team asked viewers to avoid spoilers. It’s not just about a superficial transformation.
This film breaks the “Tom Cruise = action” formula and marks a turning point even for Tom Cruise himself. The title “Digger,” the image of Tom Cruise holding a shovel on the poster, and the brief logline are, quite literally, just the “tip of the iceberg.”
“Digger” tells the story of what unfolds when a small crack in the Greenland glacier drilling facility owned by the eccentric, old-fashioned tycoon “Digger Rockwell” turns into a catastrophic disaster of historic proportions that shakes the entire world. It is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who has swept the Academy Awards twice for “Birdman” and “The Revenant.”

Through this massive disaster, Director Iñárritu examines the cracks in the world we live in today. He first leads us to believe something, then overturns that belief, making us doubt even the scenes unfolding right before our eyes. He reveals a chain reaction where events that seemed unrelated are actually connected, and where one incident triggers another.
The questions the film poses are far from simple. It continually probes the extremes that emerge on the brink of crisis and the boundary between what is fake and what is real. Whether this is satire or mockery, applause or jeers, reality or illusion, solidarity or a dogfight—it is ultimately up to the audience to decide. It is a biting black comedy.
At the center of it all, Tom Cruise reveals a side of himself that is far more unfamiliar than expected. From his vocal delivery and posture to his massive volume of dialogue and subtle facial expressions, he delivers a performance unlike anything we’ve seen from him before. It’s enough to make you wonder, “Was Tom Cruise always this kind of actor?” The actor himself takes center stage to such an extent that we can momentarily set aside the word “action,” which has long been associated with his name.

That said, *Digger* is not merely a one-man show for Tom Cruise. Even if it might appear that way, it is made possible by the ensemble cast.
Sandra Wheeler, Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, and Jesse Plemons create a dynamic synergy with Tom Cruise, doubling the film’s overall quality. Personally, I find the term “serious actor” a bit funny (it sounds like “a worker who goes to work every day”), but in “Digger,” even a passing extra is a serious actor.
In this film, the actors not only portray their characters but also exist as questions themselves. A peculiar tension and curiosity follow every character, and the audience chases after them in step with the film’s fast pace.
*The Digger* is a film that digs into what lies beneath the surface—things that are simple yet grandiose, glamorous yet absurd, peaceful yet hypocritical.
The acting, direction, message, and even the music deliver one shock after another. I recommend watching it without any prior knowledge. Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Runtime: 129 minutes. Opens October 3.