Is it possible to make a compelling film without a single likeable character? It’s a proposition that Jesse Armstrong, acclaimed creator of TV shows like Peep Show and Succession, tests in his feature-length directorial debut, Mountainhead. A portrait of four of the richest – and worst – men on the planet; it is also a psychological experiment in how far you can extend gallows humour.
Hugo Van Yalk (Jason Schwartzman) – known to his friends as Soup Kitchen, or just Soups, due to his status as “the poorest billionaire in the game” – has built a giant modernist lair, called Mountainhead, in the foothills of the Rockies. It’s a folly, but it’s his turn to host poker night and he’s out to impress. His guests include Randall (Steve Carell), the group’s pretentious “papa bear”, whose mind is obsessing over transhumanism after a terminal cancer diagnosis. There’s also Jeff (Ramy Youssef), an AI genius who is playing up his cynicism to fit in, and Venis (Cory Michael Smith), the world’s richest man, who is about as well adjusted as real-world holders of that title. Their weekend away from the rat race of oligarchy is described, alternatively, as a “razz fest” and an “intellectual salon”.
