‘Digger’ First Reactions Are All Over The Place: “Baffling,” “A Mess,” “Hollow,” “Self-Indulgent” and ..“Brilliant”

The social media embargo has lifted on Alejandro G. Iñárritu's "Digger," and, well, it's messy out there.

Reactions have been mixed. From what I've seen, about 70% lean mixed-to-negative, but it has a few passionate defenders, and that intrigues me. Divided reactions aren't necessarily a bad thing; they only make me more curious. I'll be seeing it Monday morning.

That said, notice how these reactions (below) are brutally honest, and if even the early crowd isn't gushing, the critics won't be either. Expect a bloodbath when reviews drop on Tuesday. I had hinted at the disastrous Over the weekend, I had hinted at the disastrous Friday and Saturday screenings of “Digger,” and now it's all but confirmed that critics have their knives out for Iñárritu and his movie.

Alongside "Dune: Part Three," this 𝗂̶𝗌̶ was Warner Bros.' big fall awards swing, an apocalyptic satire with Tom Cruise going full "Dr. Strangelove" as a bombastic Texan tycoon named Digger Rockwell. Cruise is 64, a four-time nominee, and still without a competitive Oscar, though the Academy threw him an Honorary one last year. He's clearly hungry.

The setup: Rockwell's drilling in Greenland has unleashed a massive methane release and knocked an ice shelf loose from a glacier. That chunk of ice is now heading straight for Europe, threatening a tsunami and full-blown catastrophe. Riz Ahmed plays Ganesh, the scientist delivering the bad news. Sandra Hüller is Digger's half-sister and business partner. John Goodman plays a tyrannical U.S. president battling anal cancer (yes, really), Michael Stuhlbarg is his spineless VP, and Jesse Plemons turns up as a mystery man whose purpose only becomes clear late in the game.

Now the money. Warner Bros. wants us to believe the budget is $125M, but many insiders have come out to say it's higher, much, much higher. The film reportedly needs north of $300M worldwide just to break even, and today Puck's Matt Belloni, who says the budget is $180M+, reported that tracking for "Digger" has dipped to a $19M opening weekend.

"Digger" opens wide on October 2…I'll keep adding more reactions as they come in, but for now, here's a roundup from film writers I actually know and trust.