"Mountainhead," the latest film from Jesse Armstrong, writer of "Succession," takes a darkly comedic look at Silicon Valley billionaires holed up in a snowbound mansion while societal chaos unfolds outside. Their discussions center around exploiting a crisis for profit, particularly focusing on the fallout from a controversial AI tool released by one of the characters, mirroring real-life tech controversies. Though the film builds tension and humor adeptly, it reportedly falters in its final act, revealing the challenges in adapting a successful TV dynamic into a feature-length story.
"Mountainhead" is the latest from "Succession" writer-director Jesse Armstrong - no surprise, it's available on HBO's streaming service, Max - and it's something more and rather less: a feature-length film that places four obscenely rich Silicon Valley overlords in a snowbound mansion as the world burns down around them and they plot to leverage the situation to their profits and power.
Cory Michael Smith plays Venis Parish, the swaggering young CEO of Traam, whose ego and aggressive double-talk resemble Elon Musk at his scariest, as his company contributes to a societal meltdown.
The film is a comedy, and a brutally dark one, that draws blood and appalled laughter for two-thirds of its running time before jumping the shark in the final stretch.
Once again, a brilliant TV writer finds the compact format of a two-hour movie more challenging than expected, showcasing the difficulties in transitioning from small screen to film.
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