Alejandro González Iñárritu, Tom Cruise, and the cast of Digger were in London last night for the film’s world premiere. The full review embargo hasn’t yet been lifted but critics are now able to share their first reactions and that’s been one of the stories about the movie – starting from a few days ago when screenings started happening, film Twitter was already buzzing about how Digger was dropping off Oscar prediction lists even though no one had yet gone on the record about what they thought. As soon as the premiere happened though, so many of the those who’d seen it rushed to socials to share their thoughts.

And the thoughts are polarising which I’m not sure is that much of a surprise. Wasn’t it always going to be polarising with Tom Cruise playing a megalomaniac billionaire? Is that redundant?

Some people are saying that Digger dividing critics is ultimately bad news for the film. Depends on how we define bad news. At this point, I don’t know that anyone is expecting Digger to be a blockbuster in the way of Top Gun or Mission(s): Impossible. As I wrote last week, Digger is tracking to open on the same weekend with the same take as One Battle After Another in 2025 and that film barely made back its budget, but it did go on to win Best Picture. So if box office is one way of measuring success, awards contention is the other. It is not uncommon for a film that does not do gangbusters at the box office to be a factor on the awards circuit. That, for me, is the more interesting question were Digger is concerned. Best Picture, in my opinion, is out of the question – The Odyssey and Dune 3 and Wild Horse Nine are too far ahead at this point. But where does that leave Tom Cruise in the best actor race?

The answer to that question is not in the hands of the audience, the people who may not get the film, or even go see it; rather it’s up to the Academy, the actors’ branch, and whether or not Tom’s performance tracks among his peers. According to Anne Thompson, and she’s been Oscar prognosticating a long time, there’s still a chance.

According to David Ehrlich, who like Anne is also connected to IndieWire, Digger is a mess.

So that underscores just how far apart the critics are on this film. But I wonder if, in some way, that might be helpful. I was at a meeting this morning and Cody, one of our younger producers, who also writes here from time to time, remarked that the dramatic swing in all of these reactions has made him more curious to see a movie he was previously medium on. And that echoes this sentiment below.

It has been a long minute since a Tom Cruise film and performance has been worthy of discourse. He has spent something like 15 years doing the safest unsafe sh-t. Unsafe because it’s jumping off of buildings but safe in that it’s so familiar. So the fact that he’s in a movie that will actually have people debating its merits, for me anyway, is already so much more interesting. Let’s come back to this next week when Sarah screens it and publishes her review.

For now, back to the spectacle of the premiere and Tom doing his signature Digger pose and perhaps giving us a preview of what his routine might be when he walks down Jennifer Hudson’s spirit tunnel:

Tom’s special guests at the event were the Prince William and Kate, as we’ve seen over the years he’s been close with – or at least as close as one can be to the future king and queen and also to a movie star who only seems to be able to talk about film sets and camera lenses. But that actually explains why these three are so well suited for each other. It’s impossible to get to any authenticity with any of these people, all of them have been trained, for years, to perform accessible while maintaining detachment. So it makes total sense that they get along so well, because nobody here is interested in getting to the heart and soul of anything.

Maybe that’s why Tom was allowed an exemption to be the exception – because as we know, the royals are all about protocol and what’s proper and you’re not supposed to touch them but here’s Tom offering his hand to help her down the steps, as her husband isn’t paying attention because he’s talking to Iñárritu.

Allegedly this is not allowed, unless you’re Tom Cruise. But the royals are so OK with it that they actually shared the moment on their Instagram account.

Here’s another moment involving Tom and the princess that made me laugh. It’s when she’s talking to Jesse Plemons and that perma-smile on his face is sending me.

Kate is wearing Jenny Packham in purple, one of the better looks we’ve seen from her in a while because it feels like a fresh colour and also because that necklace is doing so much of the work. It is spectacular and rare and exactly the kind of piece she should be pulling out for an engagement like this and at a time like this, when William’s uncle is out here criticising her father-in-law and her job is to be the sparkly distraction, with an assistant from their best friend Tom Cruise.

 Catherine, Princess of Wales, Tom Cruise, Prince William, Prince of Wales and Alejandro González Iñárritu attend the "Digger" Film And TV Charity Royal Film Performance And Global Premiere inside Leicester Square Gardens on September 22, 2026 in London, England

Sophie Wilde, Jesse Plemons, Sandra Huller, Riz Ahmed, Tom Cruise, John Goodman, Michael Stuhlbarg, Emma D'Arcy attend the "Digger" Film And TV Charity Royal Film Performance And Global Premiere inside Leicester Square Gardens on September 22, 2026 in London, England

Tom Cruise attends the "Digger" Film And TV Charity Royal Film Performance And Global Premiere inside Leicester Square Gardens on September 22, 2026 in London, England.

Photo credits: Steve Vas/Future Image/Cover Images/Instar Images, Anthony Harvey/David Fisher/Shutterstock

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