Jesse Armstrong’s Mountainhead follows four tech billionaires having a retreat at a secluded mansion when the world order is in utter disarray.
The film offers a satirical, unflinching look at a world where misinformation drives societies to commit chaos and violence. The main cast delivers a sparkling chemistry, crafting a dynamic that is both fascinating and deeply disturbing. The premise itself is equally compelling and unsettling.
Van’s (Jason Schwartzman) social media company, Traam, actively generates misinformation, which fuels violence and global unrest. When Jeff (Ramy Youssef), whose AI company helps discern truth from falsehood, confronts Van about his company and its irresponsibility, the latter responds with a cynical parallel. Van likens the chaotic world order over the misinformation stemming from Traam to humanity’s first encounter with cinema, where audiences “ran screaming” from a train. This worldview sets the tone for the film’s exploration of profound moral rot. Van further illustrates his point by suggesting that once people overcome the steep learning curve of discerning real content from artificial content, violence will cease. He even draws a parallel that trivialises immense human suffering and a complex, deeply rooted geopolitical situation such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Cast: Steve Carell, Cory Michael Smith, Jason Schwartzman, Ramy Youssef
Streamer: JioHotstar
All the others in the group except one are just as morally reprehensible as Van. The casual dismissal of the real-world consequences of misinformation from AI permeates their conversations. Van describes the violence that results from Traam as “niggly nubbins”, a cynical assertion that says everything you want to know about him. Traam’s main investor, Randall (Steve Carell) backs Van’s plan to create a technocratic world where each of them will have dictatorship roles. Justifying Van’s assertion, he says, “You are always going to get some people dead. I mean there will be eight to ten cardiac arrests at the Super Bowl.” This chilling equation of systemic, intentional harm with unavoidable accidents serves as an acceptance of collateral damage, revealing a ruthless pragmatism that defines the characters’ ethos.
The group’s self-awareness of their disruptive power is also striking. Randall’s declaration that the group are the “Bolsheviks of the new techno world order” is a clear articulation of their twisted ambition. Unlike the Joker, whom Alfred describes as a man wanting to “watch the world burn”, these billionaires are not aimless agents of chaos. They are building a new order, even if it requires the violent overthrow of the old, and they know precisely the magnitude of their actions.
The group ultimately wants to leverage the existing global chaos to stage coups against the US and other governments, establishing technocratic dictatorships with themselves at the helm. This plan becomes even more insidious with the introduction of Ven’s (Cory Michael Smith) lifestyle super app, Slowzo. Specialised for those suffering trauma post-chaos, Slowzo is not a genuine healing tool but another means for Traam to shun accountability.
Armstrong crafts incisive dialogue that consistently reveals the protagonists’ unsettling psyches and authentically captures a certain kind of tech billionaire sensibility. For example, when the US President calls Van with concerns about Traam’s role in global disarray, Van dismisses the concerns as “poorly informed criticisms”.
However, Mountainhead remains a piece of social and technological commentary, sacrificing emotional depth for satirical bite. While it hints at personal angles, such as one character’s desperation for a cure for cancer and another’s strained marital situation, it never fully explores them. This directorial indulgence keeps you interested in the proceedings but never quite truly invested in the characters’ journeys. Mountainhead may not impact you emotionally, but it will certainly make you think about the architects of an increasingly chaotic digital landscape.