‘Mountainhead’ Review: Jesse Armstrong’s HBO Movie Starring Steve Carell as a Tech Bro in Crisis Is ‘Succession’ Lite

The title refers to a palatial mountaintop estate in Utah where four rich tech bros gather for a reunion (whoever found the spectacular location deserves a bonus). They include Randall (Steve Carell), the second richest man in the world and the “papa bear” of the group; Jeff (Ramy Youssef), who’s recently devised a way to block fake, AI-generated images; Venis (Cory Michael Smith, Chevy Chase in the recent Saturday Night), the creator of an omnipresent social media platform; and the event’s host, Hugo Van Yalk (Jason Schwartzman, stealing the film), the least wealthy member of the group who’s derisively referred to by the others as “Souper.” As in “soup kitchen.”

The weekend at first proves relaxing, with the four men engaging in such activities as riding snowmobiles, stopping only to open their winter outfits to write their net worths on their bare chests with lipstick. But things quickly take a dark turn with the planet seeming to unravel. Violent conflicts are breaking out worldwide, financial markets are melting down, governments are toppling, and the internet has been taken over by disinformation.

Randall takes a sophisticated view of the situation. “It’s a solid starter planet, but we’ve outgrown it,” he observes.

Needless to say, the men become more and more concerned as their financial empires begin to crumble, no small thing when Randall is so rich that he can’t remember whether or not he still has a house in Buenos Aires. At the same time, they naturally look for ways to exploit the situation. “We could probably buy Haiti,” one of them comments.

Things go from bad to worse, their phones constantly pinging with dire news alerts. And when the water suddenly goes out, they retreat to the estate’s underground bunker, complete with bowling alley and rock-climbing wall.

As for what happens after that, well, the overlords at HBO have requested that reviews be spoiler-free. Suffice it to say that a lot happens after that, and none of it good. Not only in the sense that the plot turns even darker, but also that it takes a wickedly farcical turn that proves more absurd than convincing, with the cinematic execution demonstrating that writer-director Armstrong’s talents are more geared to dialogue than physical comedy.

That gift for sharp dialogue proves the film’s saving grace, with so many memorable lines being delivered in such fast-and-furious fashion that you can almost, but not quite, forgive the narrative missteps. It’s not every writer, after all, who can liberally sprinkle in references to Nietzsche and Kant without seeming pretentious.

It helps that the banter is delivered by such talented performers; while there are several subsidiary characters floating in and out of the proceedings, Mountainhead is really a four-person show, and the actors tear into their obnoxious characterizations with the sort of fearless gusto that won the players on Succession so many acting prizes. And if you want to know how Schwartzman’s Hugo lamenting “I wanted us to have a really nice weekend!” proves the funniest line in the film, you’ll just have to watch it.