Level Four: A Different Kind of Review of Digger

by | Oct 6, 2026 | Opinions & Commentary

Tom Cruise, right, with Ross Hatt and Maggie the cat in “Digger.” Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Level Four: A Different Kind of Review of Digger

by | Oct 6, 2026 | Opinions & Commentary

Tom Cruise, right, with Ross Hatt and Maggie the cat in “Digger.” Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

Digger does what all good satirical art does in skewering the powers that be and their hypocrisy. But goes much further by managing to involve each of us directly.

It is a true statement that art is communication And really well done or should we say, fine art, is defined by how well that are invites involvement, reaction and ultimately participation from the viewer.

Having now seen Digger for the first of what will end up being many times, I find myself compelled to write something about it. I rarely, if ever, do movie reviews. But I have to make a detour from this track.

I could just ladle out superlatives as I see many folks doing and rightly so. But that would be a slight.

Any film is made by the combination of numerous disciplines or departments. You have of course the script, the actors and the director and their interactions. Add to this the work of production design, set design and construction, the background scene artists, lighting, cinematography, sound, sound design, editing—which I have a particular affinity for—and props, plus much more. In the case of Digger each of these departments were firing on all cylinders. But this focuses on the technical aspects of the work and not what all these departments were fused together into doing which was delivering perhaps the most staggeringly important messages in their story.

By the way, I am not going to spoil anything and I sure as hell am not going to tell you the meaning of “Level Four” in the title of this post. I’ll leave that to the film—and as a caution, do not skip the first part of the ending credits or you will miss the full import of the message.

The basic commentary made by this film is a deeply relevant indictment of our society. It does what all good satirical art does in skewering the powers that be and their hypocrisy. But Digger goes much further by managing to involve each of us directly. (To understand what I mean here, again, do not omit seeing and listening to the end credits.)

This is storytelling that will set a new standard in intensity, focus and impact. But then isn’t that what communication is all about?

Tom Cruise is legendary for his focus and intensity as an actor. But that’s because he has a singular intention to get his communication across and make an impact on the viewer. In the case of Digger, each and every cast member is right up there with Tom in that intensity, focus and delivery. John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Sandra Hüller, Jessie Plemons—I am not dissing anyone by not adding them to this short list—knocked their performances out of the park. Each of them and all the others hammered home the film’s impact.

One of the things I loved the most about this film is what it did not show you. Alejandro Iñárritu crafted scenes where one would typically expect to see spectacles of gratuitous violence and destruction but goes a different way. He shows you something else entirely and in a way that is even more powerful and visceral.

There has been so much negative press about this film that now having seen it I understand. Once you see it you will too and the reasons for such scorn heaped on it will be fairly obvious. People in certain circles will even consider this film dangerous. Good. Again, you’ll have to see it to get it.

And I really hope you do. In the not to distant future this will be considered the best work, so far, of everyone involved. I saw The Fifth Element three times in the theater—at the Cinerma Dome no less. I’m certain I’ll surpass that with Digger. We saw it in the local IMAX theater. It really deserves a huge screen and owns it.

In short Digger rips off a bandaid sloppily applied to the gaping wounds of our society and its apathy at the abuse heaped on it by various folks who consider themselves our betters. And it opines a more than dismal future as a consequence of that apathy. The scary part is that it is entirely believable.

Marty Kassowitz

Marty Kassowitz

Marty Kassowitz is co-founder of Factkeepers. As founder of Interest Factory and View360, he brings more than 30 years experience in effective online communications, social media management, and platform development to the site. He is a writer, designer, editor and long time observer of the ill-logic demonstrated by too many members of the species known as Mankind. After a long history of somewhat private commentary on a subject he totally hates: politics, Marty was encouraged to build this site and put up his own analyses as well as curate relevant content from other sources.

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