R-rated for pervasive language, the film's primary content concern. No major sexual content or graphic violence. A satire of billionaire hubris and self-appointed-savior pride that unintentionally illustrates real biblical themes, undercut by heavy, constant profanity.
Digger is a 2026 satirical black comedy directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu, his first English-language feature since The Revenant (2015), co-written with Sabina Berman, Alexander Dinelaris, and Nicolas Giacobone. Tom Cruise stars, almost unrecognizable under significant physical transformation, as Digger Rockwell, a billionaire oil tycoon described in the film's own marketing as "the most powerful man in the world." After Rockwell's drilling operation triggers a global environmental catastrophe, he embarks on a frantic, self-aggrandizing mission to recast himself as humanity's savior before the disaster he caused destroys everything. The ensemble cast includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Sandra Huller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jesse Plemons, and Emma D'Arcy. The film premiered in London on September 22, 2026, and opened in US theaters and IMAX on October 2, 2026, through Warner Bros. Early critical reception has been sharply divided, less over the film's morality than its execution: some reviewers praised Cruise's committed, transformative performance (IndieWire called it his best since Magnolia) and the film's visual ambition, while others found the satire muddled and the tone "generally unpleasant" or "a mess." What critics largely agree on is the target: Inarritu is explicitly poking fun at the wealthy and powerful and the delusions of grandeur that follow unchecked wealth, not endorsing them.
The MPAA rated Digger R specifically "for pervasive language" - not for sexual content, nudity, or graphic violence, which do not appear to be significant elements of the film based on available reviews and ratings guides. "Pervasive" is doing real work in that rating description, however: it signals that strong profanity runs throughout the film's dialogue rather than appearing in isolated moments, which matters for any Christian viewer concerned about the cumulative effect of coarse language on the mind. The film's peril is described as primarily environmental, societal, and apocalyptic rather than violent in the conventional action-movie sense.
Whether intentionally or not, Digger's premise lands remarkably close to a theme Scripture addresses directly: a man of immense wealth and power, having caused catastrophe through his own greed, declares himself the one who will save everyone from it. Proverbs 16:18 warns that "pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" - a line that could serve as Digger Rockwell's character summary. The Genesis account of Babel (Genesis 11:4) depicts the same basic impulse: humanity attempting to "make a name for ourselves" and secure its own future through its own power, rather than trusting God. Critics note the film satirizes rather than celebrates this impulse, which lines up with a genuinely Christian critique of wealth-as-salvation. 1 Timothy 6:17 warns the rich "not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches." A story that watches a billionaire's self-salvation project collapse under its own absurdity can, when viewed with discernment, actually reinforce a very biblical point: there is only one true Savior, and it isn't a man rich and powerful enough to believe he can buy his own redemption.
There's a real, if imperfectly executed, moral argument underneath the satire. A story that holds up the absurdity of a self-appointed billionaire savior for ridicule is not glorifying that pride, it's exposing it, and that exposure happens to align with what Scripture says about human attempts at self-salvation. Several critics note the film's ambition and willingness to swing hard at its target even where the execution falls short. That said, satire alone doesn't erase the content concern: pervasive strong language runs through the film regardless of how pointed its moral target is.
Digger scores 42/100 - Caution. The film's satirical target, exposing the pride and delusion of a self-made man convinced he can save the world he broke, lines up with real biblical wisdom about pride and misplaced trust in wealth, and it contains no major sexual content or graphic violence. But pervasive, constant strong language is the entire reason for its R rating, and that's a real, serious content concern on its own terms. Christian viewers drawn to sharp satire about wealth and pride should go in aware of the language, and may want to wait for a version where that can be filtered.
GodlyScore evaluates every title across signal categories grounded in Scripture: profanity (Ephesians 4:29), sexual content, violence, and thematic virtue or warning value. Digger registers pervasive strong language as its dominant and MPAA-cited concern, with no significant sexual content or graphic violence, and a positive signal for its satirical critique of pride and wealth-as-salvation, a theme that unintentionally echoes real biblical warnings.
See our Christian Discernment Guide for a framework on weighing strong language against thematic value, and our Worldly vs. Godly Entertainment guide for more on evaluating satire and social commentary. For cast, plot, and production details, see the Wikipedia entry on Digger (2026).