For his debut feature film Mountainhead, Succession creator Jesse Armstrong delves into established themes. Similar to Succession, Mountainhead centers on the affluent and powerful, this time parodying tech titans reminiscent of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sam Altman. The film reflects Succession’s aesthetic with its documentary-style cinematography and a score by Succession composer Nicholas Britell. It also features its own memorable quotes, like “room cuck.”
Despite these parallels to Succession, Mountainhead frequently finds it difficult to set itself apart, even as it endeavors to tackle contemporary issues.
What is Mountainhead about?
In a narrative seemingly ripped from current news, Mountainhead follows the “Brewsters,” a quartet of extremely wealthy tech innovators whose poker night is interrupted by global upheaval. Among them is the wealthiest individual globally, Venis (Cory Michael Smith), creator of the social media platform Traam. When Mountainhead starts, Traam has just launched a suite of AI tools that can produce hyper-realistic deepfake images and videos. The resulting surge of misinformation creates violence and economic instability around the globe, none of which Venis wishes to take accountability for.
Instead, Venis is looking to acquire technology from fellow poker participant Jeff (Ramy Youssef), who has crafted a filter capable of distinguishing AI from reality. However, Jeff is hesitant to sell, partly because Traam is a “racist and shitty” platform and because his wealth is rising amidst the turmoil.
Supervising the Venis-Jeff face-off are Randall (Steve Carell), a “dark money Gandalf” and the “Papa Bear” of the group, and Hugo (Jason Schwartzman), dubbed Soup Kitchen since he’s the only non-billionaire among them. Just a simple millionaire! Hugo’s sprawling mansion in Utah, named Mountainhead after Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, serves as the vantage point from which the Brewsters observe the world disintegrate. Detached from everyone, they start brainstorming ways to further exploit the global disorder and perhaps even seize control of the planet.
Mountainhead channels contemporary anxieties about tech moguls and AI.
If Mountainhead’s narrative of tech billionaires vying for an even larger portion of the world’s wealth feels disturbingly pertinent, that’s by design. Armstrong created, wrote, and filmed Mountainhead within mere months to craft a film that resonates with the current climate as much as possible.
The outcome is sobering, as Armstrong adeptly heightens AI-related fears. Here, AI isn’t merely used to fabricate faux Katy Perry Met Gala appearances or eccentric baby videos. Instead, it incites international strife, seemingly the unavoidable conclusion of the technology.
Fueling it all are the Brewsters, who are reminiscent of a blend of notable tech figures — Musk, Altman, Zuckerberg, and even Sam Bankman-Fried. Musk, in particular, looms large. Characters’ schemes to reshape the U.S. government echo Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), although he resigned on May 29. Meanwhile, Venis and Randall’s fixation on transhumanism brings to mind Musk’s Neuralink goals, while their claim that Earth was a suitable “starter planet” hints at Musk’s endeavors with SpaceX and aspirations to settle Mars.
Besides shining a light on the concepts and innovations driving Silicon Valley today, Armstrong captures the self-important vernacular of tech bro discourse. From nods to Plato and Kant to talks of “first principles,” Carell, Schwartzman, Youssef, and Smith indulge in every smug line. After just a short time with each of them, you’ll feel an urge to knock their lights out — a sensation that only intensifies as the film unfolds.
Mountainhead stumbles in the beginning, but it eventually finds its rhythm for a hilarious third act.
Despite its accurate depiction of unbearable tech personalities, Mountainhead struggles with its dialogue and character development, aspects where Succession continually shone. Initial scenes feature clumsy exchanges establishing the film’s tech-centric foundation, including a monologue from Jeff that meticulously details every conceivable problem with Traam’s AI. Not even Youssef (otherwise amusing in the film) can make that info dump appear natural.
This awkwardness permeates Mountainhead’s opening act as the characters (and performers) discover their groove. While Hugo’s visitors acclimate, their ongoing tech discussions and jabs feel like a slightly off-kilter version of Succession.
Fortunately, Mountainhead truly hits its stride in its third act, shifting focus from the Brewsters’ responses to external events to a more internal, pressing conflict. Disclosing more would spoil Mountainhead’s most delightful twists, but the film’s foray into an absurdist caper is a welcome surge — and the boost Mountainhead needs to move away from Succession comparisons (even if they resurface in the film’s closing moments).
Mountainhead’s quick production timeline makes it a compelling experiment: Can a film