This week on WVIA Pop Shop, Allan Austin, Patrick Hamilton and Kara take on Digger, the ambitious new black comedy starring Tom Cruise as an oil tycoon whose disregard for warnings triggers an environmental—and potentially global—disaster.

With a cast that also includes Riz Ahmed, John Goodman, Jesse Plemons and Sandra Hüller, Digger certainly looks like a prestige picture. But underneath its Oscar-friendly cast and highly stylized filmmaking is a sprawling satire about corporate power, political corruption, environmental catastrophe, consumerism and our complicated relationship with art itself.

In the spoiler-free first half, Allan and Patrick ask what actually makes a "prestige picture" and whether Tom Cruise might be making a serious run at an Oscar.

Then the movie takes a turn.

After the spoilers begin, the conversation shifts to what Digger may really be asking of its audience: Are corporations solely responsible for the world they've helped create, or are consumers complicit too? Can art inspire people to confront difficult problems—or can it become another distraction that helps us live with them? And what happens when facts have to compete with a better story?

Plus: is Digger an ambitious big swing or an example of cinematic hubris? Kara isn't convinced. Patrick is pleasantly surprised. And Allan may have found his new favorite Tom Cruise movie.

⚠️ Spoilers begin at 15:27.