Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Mountainhead review says that HBO Max’s latest streaming film is razor sharp, frightfully prescient and punctuated by some of the best acting you’ll see on a small screen.

Succession director, writer and executive producer Jesse Armstrong didn’t intend for the HBO Max streaming film Mountainhead to be a horror film, yet it struck deep fear in my heart.

Being extremely close to someone who is deeply involved in AI and the imminent issues surrounding it, I am all too aware that the events plotted by the movie’s four arrogant billionaire tech bros could well happen in the near future. We’re talking two to five years.

Armstrong has painted a clever and entertaining yet extremely dark picture of a world that could conceivably exist. And that’s what makes it so frightening. The best horror movies are always the ones that actually has a chance of happening in your own backyard.

This sordid tale of wealth and hubris is actually a simple one, but it’s told with lightening fast, innie tech jargon that some outies of tech world might have trouble following. But it’s delivered with such skill, anyone can basically understand the gist—if they’re paying close attention.

Four elite tech titans whose stock is mostly skyrocketing, meet for their annual poker weekend in the mountaintop Park City ultra-luxury ski-lodge that belongs to the least successful but most sycophantic of the group, Hugo, played by Jason Schwartzman.  “Papa Bear”  Randall (Steve Carell), Elon Musky Venis (Cory Michael Smith) and idealistic Jeff (Ramy Youssef) make up the rest of the foursome, self branded as the Brewsters.

As they poke, preen and posture, they watch the world burning on their cell phones, thanks to an AI tool Venis has unleashed on all mankind. Do these smug, modern day masters of universe even care, and can their collective efforts save the hell they hath wrought? They believe they can, but don’t expect any altruism from this lot.

Mountainhead is stimulating, amusing and enjoyable if you simply take it at face value. The performances are sublime. It’s probably best of you don’t take it too seriously. I did, and it’s still keeping me up at night. All the best movies leave a lasting impression.

No Rating

1 Hour 49 Minutes

If this Mountainhead review encourages you to take it on, find it on HBO Max.

Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Mountainhead review says that HBO Max’s latest streaming film is razor sharp, frightfully prescient and punctuated by some of the best acting you’ll see on a small screen.