‘Mountainhead’ Review: Jesse Armstrong’s Political Power Display
Mountainhead perfectly showcases that all of this power is being put in the hands of people who barely understand the damage that it can cause
After Succession’s end in 2023, Jesse Armstrong returns two years later to deliver his directorial feature debut for HBO with Mountainhead. A movie that’s more or less Succession from another angle, as we continue to follow a group of billionaires in the middle of a power play. It’s a lot to ask for the audience to feel empathy for a bunch of people that have no care for the civilians they’re affecting, and thankfully, Armstrong doesn’t once make this a movie that has you feeling bad for the people that unfortunately have a big say in our lives.
Mountainhead follows a group of billionaire friends, Randall (Steve Carell), Souper (Jason Schwartzman), Jeff (Ramy Youssef), and Venis (Cory Michael Smith), who reunite and take a retreat to the titular “Mountainhead” during a rolling worldwide economic crisis.
Within the first ten minutes of this film, Armstrong is able to deliver a great demonstration of the type of characters we’re dealing with. The type of humans that truly care about making more money at the expense of human lives. Each and every single character has a huge ego in this movie that’s just waiting to be stroked by the other person, and each of the actors who feel drastically far from the characters they portray give performances that keep the audience engaged with the drama at hand. Ramy Youssef’s performance is the only one that offers up any sort of nuance in comparison to everyone else due to his character questioning their acts, but even in the end, you find him still to be exactly like the rest.
This is a movie that puts the billionaires in a spotlight where they’re perceived as gods with all the power. With “Mountainhead” being at the top of a mountain looking over the rest of the world, it feels like Olympus. There are many egotistical CEOs or execs that currently run social media sites that could come to mind that feel like Armstrong was used for inspiration for this film. Mountainhead highlights how much political power a group of idiots hold without any form of political education or background. While it’s hard not to compare it to Succession, it must be said that what Armstrong does so well is ensure that the tone of his writing remains dramatic while still using enough humour to make certain moments feel chilling and have the audience question what could possibly go wrong by the end.
At no point did it ever feel like the humour was drowning out the movie; the comedic timing was perfect within the writing and the performances themselves. Armstrong’s writing and style could be considered quite similar to the likes of Adam McKay known for Vice and Don’t Look Up, but he still manages to make it feel like his own, keeping it refreshing with the drone shots, over-the-shoulder shots and the shaky movement, which makes Mountainhead feel like we’re watching a reality show. Cinematographer Marcel Zyskind (The Ugly Stepsister) executes that sense of urgency and pulls you to the edge of your seat, conveying a feeling of nervousness that you just can’t shake off even when the credits roll.
In the year 2025, artificial intelligence is almost mentioned in every single piece of media now. It’s hard not to talk about it when it’s becoming more and more present in our everyday life. Mountainhead shows how when a bunch of tools are released to the public through their social media app, it causes turmoil across the world. There are issues of fake news being spread, misinformation, deep fakes, and how news is used to put fear into the public.
It’s a real issue that we’re dealing with, and Mountainhead perfectly showcases that all of this power is not only becoming harder to identify but is being put in the hands of people who barely understand the damage that it can cause. Armstrong does a genuine good job of giving you a laugh, even during the movie’s chaotic climactic moments, but also does a great job of instilling fear into you, making you realise that this isn’t just some fictional story; it’s the harsh reality, and most of the people watching this film are likely to go back to social media and continue absorbing and believing the fake news they consume.
Mountainhead is directed by Jesse Armstrong and stars Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith, and Ramy Youssef. It releases on HBO and HBO Max on May 31st, 2025.
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