Film

Digger

Digger is a big, glossy apocalyptic farce with Tom Cruise doing full comic bluster as a self-styled fixer racing to spin catastrophe into personal triumph. Ahmed, Goodman, Hüller, Stuhlbarg and Plemons circle him as the terrified, cynical people trying to survive his ego. It's loud, mean in a satisfying way, and made for anyone who enjoys watching power flail spectacularly in public.

If you liked this

Don't Look Up2021

Same engine as Digger — vanity and denial outrunning an actual apocalypse — played by an all-star cast clearly having a blast with the satire.

But Its politics-of-doom comedy landed divisively; some viewers found it smug rather than sharp.

Don't Look Up poster

The Death of Stalin2017

Terrified powerful men scrambling to look in control while everything collapses around them — vicious, fast, genuinely funny farce.

But The historical violence sits close to the jokes; some won't want comedy this near real atrocity.

The Death of Stalin poster

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Ace in the Hole1951

Both are about exploiting catastrophe to cast yourself as the hero; Digger plays it as farce, this plays it dead straight and much darker.

A ruthless reporter turns a man's disaster into his own shot at glory — the rot at the heart of self-appointed saviors, decades before satire caught up to it.

But It's bleak noir, not comedy — no punchline, just cold moral wreckage.

Ace in the Hole poster
More like this (8)

In the Loop2009

Whip-smart, foul-mouthed satire of officials blundering toward disaster while insisting they've absolutely got it handled.

But Dense, rapid-fire British political dialogue — miss a line and you miss a joke.

In the Loop poster

Veep2012

The same craven, self-mythologizing energy stretched across years of people failing upward while insisting they're the ones saving everyone.

But Seven seasons is a big commitment, and the relentless cynicism can wear you down.

Veep poster

Wag the Dog1997

A slippery satire about manufacturing a crisis to manufacture a hero — the same cynicism about spin winning out over substance.

But The media landscape it skewers is very 90s; some jokes have aged out of relevance.

Wag the Dog poster

Vice2018

A sharper, meaner look at a man convinced his power is the only thing standing between order and chaos.

But The fourth-wall tricks and mockumentary flourishes can feel show-offy rather than illuminating.

Vice poster

Idiocracy2006

Broader, dumber, and proud of it — catastrophic leadership played for pure slapstick instead of wit.

But Deliberately lowbrow humour that trades precision for gags, and not all of them still land.

Idiocracy poster

The Interview2014no page yet

For when you want the powerful-man-causes-disaster premise turned into pure, dumb, likeable comic chaos.

But It's silly rather than sharp — the satire is thin compared to almost everything else here.

The Fog of War2003

Same question Digger asks through jokes — can the man who caused the disaster really be its savior — answered here through real, unguarded testimony.

Robert McNamara, in his own words, wrestling with the disaster he helped cause — the real-life version of a powerful man trying to make sense of what he's unleashed.

But A slow, talking-head documentary with none of the comic release; heavy going right after a farce.

The Fog of War poster

Team America: World Police2004

It skewers the exact same I-alone-can-fix-this bravado Digger is built on, just with marionettes instead of movie stars.

Puppets playing macho world-saving idiots with explosions and terrible accents — the same swaggering rescue-fantasy posture, cranked to maximum absurdity.

But The gross-out gags and infamous puppet sex scene are a specific, juvenile flavor not everyone can stomach.

Team America: World Police poster

People

Cast

Directing

Writing

Production