Mountainhead

I think people are being a bit harsh here. I laughed and winced a bit and enjoyed the performances somewhat. It doesn't reach the heights of Succession because it's not Succession. Yes it felt rushed and not of the standards set by his own crazy success, but it's an HBO movie satire that was shot in several weeks to hit on current hot topics. It's fine.

The story got a bit tedious towards the end and the jump in pace two thirds in didn't quite work. However, this was Jesse Armstrong's directorial debut and I'll be interested to see where he goes from here after an ok start - whether he doubles down on crafting himself as film director or sticking to TV.

If you can't think of something to watch and you want to laugh a bit at how awful the world is - and who runs it - give it a bash.

I thought the movie was great. I don't understand the frequency of negative reviews. Maybe it's the common man's denial of understanding that, in the minds of billionaires, the middle class is as relevant as cockroaches. Or maybe the negative reviews are the result of sabotage by the AI of some billionaire who doesn't want such true representations of his class in a movie.

Another aspect to consider is that the film is, above all, a warning to the common man and the paths that capitalism is taking our lives from now on. I'm still reflecting on the impacts of what I saw and it reminded me a bit of Black Mirror. If you didn't like the film, don't worry. We're already in it in real life.

Y dear middle class citizen, be very afraid.

This movie is basically four rich guys talking in a fancy mountain house - that's it. And weirdly... I really liked it. At first I thought it was gonna be boring, but after 20 minutes I was fully in.

The characters are so over-the-top but also weirdly real. You really feel how disconnected they are from normal people. The dialogues are smart but not too heavy, and some moments are actually really funny in a dark way.

Souper was my favorite - trying so hard to be a billionaire with a meditation app, but clearly lost inside. The tension between the characters is always there, like something bad could happen anytime, but it never turns into a cliché.

There's no action, no music really, not much going on visually, but it still keeps you watching. It's just... different. And in a good way.

If you liked Succession or enjoy dark comedy with smart dialogue, give this one a shot. I didn't expect to like it this much.

Bonus points for making me laugh and feel a little uncomfortable at the same time.

I am not sure what they were going for. It was marketed as somewhat of a thriller, but the dialogue was trying to be comedic and quite frankly the execution was poor. The whole plot wasn't very feasible and it's another one of those straight to TV movies. The premise that one of them released software that could create deep, fake AI stories that couldn't be detected seem to be ignored by everybody in the world, and it was causing disruption everywhere when everybody in the world knew the stories were only on that particular platform, which had already announced that you should be skeptical. Aside from that a whole plot involving the four billionaires was not very believable.

Mountainhead isn't your typical popcorn movie - and that's precisely its strength. Many viewers might walk in expecting a comedy (perhaps misled by the marketing), but what they'll find is a cerebral, slow-burning exploration of AI, power, and the people shaping our future.

This film is a must-watch for AI executives, tech enthusiasts, and anyone involved in the design or governance of digital systems. It offers a sobering reflection on the values of those leading technological development, and the real-world consequences of their choices. In a world inching toward techno-feudalism, where unelected tech moguls can steer the fate of entire nations, Mountainhead asks hard questions about who holds the power-and what they believe in.

It's not always easy to digest. Some scenes feel abstract or overly intellectual, and casual viewers looking for laughs might leave confused or disappointed. But maybe that's part of the point. The people who "don't get it" may soon find their jobs-and their agency-at risk in an AI-driven world they didn't help design or understand.

In the end, Mountainhead isn't a film for everyone. But for the right audience, it's a compelling and necessary piece of storytelling.