‘Digger’ Confronts Negative Buzz: New Ad Tells Moviegoers to ‘Decide for Yourself’ After Tom Cruise Movie Called ‘Unpleasant’ and ‘Baffling’

Warner Bros. is asking moviegoers to “decide for yourself” with a new ad for Tom Cruise’s “Digger” that touts both negative and positive reactions.

“Masterpiece” and “Unpleasant” are quoted in the same still of the new trailer, which also toggles between the words “Brilliant” and “Baffling” as well as “Magnificent” and “Insufferable.” These quotes are from film influencers who screened the movie early and posted their reactions after the social embargo lifted on Sept. 22.

“Same film, different truth,” reads the ad for “Digger,” which stars Cruise as an oil tycoon whose drilling triggers a climate crisis. The film, from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, marks Cruise’s first non-action hero role in nearly a decade.

Warner Bros. posted the new ad an hour before the review embargo, which is when film critics were allowed to publish their reviews. The “decide for yourself” campaign may have been an attempt to get ahead of the critics, who were, as a whole, far less generous than the first wave of social media pundits.

Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman called the film “so full of itself” in his review, writing, “The movie cost north of $125 million to make, and that figure is not only too big to probably justify itself; it’s a testament to the arrogance of the filmmakers — to the assumption that we’ll turn out in droves for this ponderous absurdist lecture.”

Bilge Ebiri of Vulture wrote in his review, “‘Digger’ is a torturous experience, sometimes purposefully so, often unintentionally so.” And David Ehrlich of IndieWire dubbed it a “surreal misfire,” giving the movie a C+ grade. (“Digger” currently sits at a 52% score among critics on Rotten Tomatoes.)

Of course, those are just critics’ opinions, so for those waiting to decide for themselves, “Digger” premieres in theaters on Oct. 2.