Neil Young does not typically dedicate his time to reviewing commercial studio releases, which makes his unreserved enthusiasm for Tom Cruise's latest picture, Digger, all the more remarkable. While mainstream film critics have treated the satirical black comedy with cold indifference and ticket buyers have stayed away from cinemas, Young has emerged as the movie's most passionate advocate. In a detailed post published on his personal blog, the songwriter declared the title to be the finest movie he has ever watched, explicitly instructing audiences to ignore the bad reviews and approach the screen with complete openness.
Directed and co-written by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, the filmmaker recognized for previous projects such as Birdman and The Revenant, Digger features Cruise as an oil tycoon named Digger Rockwell. The narrative follows Rockwell as he tries to rescue thousands of people from a devastating environmental catastrophe that he brought about himself. Packed with sharp genre twists and abrasive satire, the film triggered an intensely polarized reaction upon its arrival. The general reception was chilly, and the commercial performance proved catastrophic. Opening to a modest 20 million dollars against a massive 160 million dollar production budget, the project quickly earned a reputation as one of the most substantial financial disappointments in modern cinema history.
Even with that frosty public reception, other prominent artists have offered their own vocal endorsements of the work. Anne Hathaway recently posted an enthusiastic response on the social platform Letterboxd, celebrating the film as smart, trippy, aggressive, funny, and ambitious. Young shared a similar admiration in his blog entry, where he insisted that the broader critical conversation had completely missed the entire point of the project.
According to Young, none of the reviews he read managed to describe the production adequately, with most critics failing to grasp its overarching impact. The musician argued that Digger exists firmly in a world of art and essentially serves as its own best review, which led him to suggest that prospective viewers dismiss all outside opinions before heading into the theater. He also warned that treating the title like a typical, big-budget Tom Cruise spectacle would inevitably lead to frustration. Far from being a standard commercial venture, Young framed the movie as an artful statement tailored to the current era, noting that both the dialogue and the underlying themes mirror contemporary social and political reality with precision.
Young acknowledged that the production's radical tonal shifts and steep artistic ambitions could easily disorient anyone looking for predictable, conventional Hollywood entertainment. Because of that uncompromising approach, he labeled the film essential viewing for audiences tired of the lack of meaningful engagement across modern culture. He even offered explicit viewing advice, telling moviegoers to remain seated even if they find themselves convinced that the story is falling flat. Rather than letting structural choices cause confusion, he argued, viewers simply need to remain patient and stay receptive to the director's unconventional storytelling methods.
Young's passion for a dark satire built around corporate environmental damage fits seamlessly alongside his own artistic priorities. Just last month, the musician released a new album titled Second Song, recorded with the Chrome Hearts. That record arrived as the follow-up to 2025's Talkin To The Trees, a project during which Young explained that he had poured his anger over the Trump administration straight into the songs. As he reflected at the time, art made during periods when lives are tested carries a distinct duty to gather the past into a hopefulness for the future. His vocal defense of Digger stems from that identical worldview, championing challenging creative work willing to accept commercial alienation if it means confronting uncomfortable realities directly.
