Kojima Explains What Makes 2026's Most Divisive Film Similar to Metal Gear Solid 2

In a conversation with the film's director ahead of its Japanese release, Kojima confessed to a fear of social media and artificial intelligence, which are intertwining their work.

Speaking to the film's director for the Japanese release, Kojima admitted to fearing the social media and artificial intelligence that connects their work.

Digger doesn't exactly bring audiences to the cinema, but it certainly stimulates conversation among those who have seen it. Despite its poor performance at the box office, Digger's fan base continues to grow and now includes the creator of Metal Gear. Hideo Kojima praised the film for its handling of themes and ideas, and in a conversation with its director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, even compared the film's narrative to his own game Metal Gear Solid 2.

After calling Digger "a movie we all need to see in today's world" on his social media accounts, Kojima explained why he felt that way in an interview with Iñárritu for Gizmodo Japan. Delving deep into climate catastrophe and misinformation in intense comedy and drama, the film has been compared to films like Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove and Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator for how it forces viewers to examine the current state of the world by abstracting it into absurd satire.

"It's not a story where meteors fall from the sky or aliens attack, but instead captures things that actually happen in reality," Kojima says of the film. The film is also very scary, but it seems that is exactly why they succeeded in making it. Comedy is the sense of a film that combines the structure of cinema and theater and ends up becoming a play that is presented not as something from the future, but as part of our history. "The structure is so well done that it really surprised me."

He notes that these aspects specifically remind him of the social commentary found in Metal Gear Solid 2. "We didn't have social media back then, but the story I made was one where social media took on a life of its own," Kojima explained to Iñárritu. “It's a bit like what happens in Digger, isn't it? On social media sites, misinformation spreads quickly, and there is fear of how this will affect politics and our daily lives. Here too I noticed that Digger is structurally very similar. It was like entering a movie world, I felt scared, like we were being pushed by forces beyond our control. "Right now, apart from climate change, what scares us the most is that we're lost in a digital world where we can't tell what's right."

Iñárritu agrees with Kojima's line of thinking, noting that he fears we're losing touch with a shared reality that can connect us as we live in the "fragmented realities of our smartphones." "Even the talk about the film is fueled not by the film itself, but by the stories that surround it," he continues. "Even people who haven't seen it yet have strong opinions about it. Our world today is one of having strong beliefs about things we have never even experienced."

Here, Kojima recalled his own experiences. I made a game called Death Stranding where you go around making deliveries, but people who hadn't even played it said it was 'just a walking simulator' like they'd actually played it!” he says That notion still exists and the way it can scares me even more. Plus, of course, we've integrated AI into social media and you'll only see things you like. You only see comments and things you like, so different comments and ideas never reach you.

As AI becomes more prominent and almost like a concierge, we may be in a position to eat only the foods we like or only meet people who share our views. It's like we're being manipulated by someone, like the people at Digger. We don't know who or what is behind it. That's why I find this movie so terrible.

Kojima's love of film is no secret, and as he ventures into film himself with his work with A24, he's bridged the gap between games and cinema, considering where they're similar and where they're different. Much like Backrooms, with which the director was also associated, Digger is a film with which creator Kojima has found a kindred spirit, sharing his concerns for the future in the process. Maybe when he's done with OD and Physint, he should work as a full-time film critic.

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