Mountainhead

Rating:

High and Mighty

Main Cast: Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman

Director: Jesse Armstrong

The sentence above was written by Rebecca Shaw for The Guardian in January of 2025. But it could easily have been the tagline for HBO’s original film, Mountainhead. They say money doesn’t buy happiness, (debatable, but for another day) but in this comedy/drama/satire it also doesn’t buy common sense, friends, good taste, or human decency.

Set at a mountaintop mansion (very reminiscent of the Overlook Hotel), Mountainhead follows four billionaires as they retreat from the world to rest their weary money-counting fingers with a hard earned weekend of bragging, cringey social interaction, and casually watching the world burn. Steve Carell headlines as Randall Garrett. Randall is the eldest in the group and in poor health (though he would never talk about this with his “friends”). The owner of the mansion, dubbed Mountainhead in an homage to Ayn Rand (of course), is Hugo Van Yalk (Jason Schwartzman). With a net worth of only half a billion dollars, he is nicknamed Souper, short for Soup Kitchen, to remind him of his inferior status.

Joining these two stellar human beings is Venis Parish (Cory Michael Smith), richest person in the world and owner of an AI company that is, as the movie opens, actively causing global chaos and violence. Finally there is Jeff Abredazi (Ramy Youssef), owner of a competing AI company that could end the chaos if only he would sell it to Venis.

The four settle in for a weekend of what passes for merriment and we get to follow along as they show their true colors many times over.

Mountainhead is not about brilliant tech pioneers. It is not about the world’s best minds coming together to bond or relax. It isn’t even really about greed or obscene wealth. The film is much more about the kind of people who amass unfathomable fortunes. It is a satirical, imaginary look behind closed doors at what these four men are like when the world isn’t watching. Hint: they’re not awesome.

Mountainhead imagines a scenario in which the wealthiest in the world have the ability, literally in the palm of their hands, to start – or stop – a global catastrophe and instead choose to bicker and complain and generally be petty children. You will hate them all. You’re supposed to hate them all. There are genuinely funny bits of absurdity as they try to mimic actual humans. There are some slapstick shenanigans as they plot and scheme to get what they want that are also amusing.

But what the film does best is turn these tycoons into buffoons. Satire as a powerful tool for social critique and it’s wielded with some skill by the makers of Mountainhead, led by Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Succession, in his feature film directorial debut. The bluster and confidence that we see as the men arrive for their opulent getaway gives way to insecurity, incompetence, cowardice, and the clear indication that their fortunes are the product of immorality and luck rather than business acumen or innovation.

The film works fairly well as satire, and sometimes as comedy. But the drama piece is harder without a true protagonist. The schadenfreude of knowing that these characters are unhappy with their monstrous selves isn’t quite enough to make us invest in their fates.

Overall, though, Mountainhead was far better, and more enjoyable, than I expected. The performances are terrific, with special shout-outs to Jason Schwartzman for being almost sympathetic once or twice, and Cory Michael Smith for his magnificent swings between terrifying, amoral psychopath and rudderless child. His entire physicality transforms as the movie progresses, from tyrant to toddler and back. Carell is the film’s anchor, and the primary reason the ensemble works. His character carries an extra burden and with it slightly more depth, which drives some of the absurdity.

Mountainhead is not the kind of movie I would rush out to the theater to see. Rather, if you have HBO, it’s worth streaming for no extra cost. I haven’t watched Succession, but I suspect if you’re a fan of the series, this film may have similar appeal.

Sue Millinocket

Sue reads a lot, writes a lot, edits a lot, and loves a good craft. She was deemed “too picky” to proofread her children’s school papers and wears this as a badge of honor. She is also proud of her aggressively average knitting skills. TV and indie movies are her jam.