News

Steve Carell in a satirical movie about today’s big tech giants, with the creator of Succession writing and directing? Well, the pitch does not get any better than this. The HBO original Mountainhead was one of the most anticipated projects of the year due to the talent involved and the world explored.

Despite being set again in the world of elite CXOs and business deals like Succession, the movie has nothing more in common, apart from both media being created by Jesse Armstrong. Steve Carell actually compared the satirical drama to Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, claiming that the movie was as topical as Kubrick’s Cold War comedy.

Steve Carell compared Jesse Armstrong’s Mountainhead to Stanley Kubrick’s incredible comedy Steve Carell in Mountainhead | Credits: HBO

We live in a post-truth world and a hyper-reality full of misinformation, with everyone from companies to politicians trying to get control of the narrative.

Over four seasons of following the globe-trotting Roy family, “Succession” creator Jesse Armstrong and production designer Stephen Carter had mastered the art of finding locations that showcased the characters’ extreme wealth, but also how uncomfortable and cold these spaces can be for their characters. When Armstrong was on this week’s episode of the Filmmaker Toolkit Podcast, to discuss his new HBO movie “Mountainhead,” about four tech moguls’ weekend getaway, he talked about how impersonal these locations can be.

“They’re gilded cages, or really more beige prison cells,” said Armstrong. “That wealth has this kind of international hotel feel to it. I’ve scouted a lot of these locations and there is a similarity. I guess it’s often people who spend time a lot of different places around the globe and maybe they want that uniformity, it doesn’t have much aesthetic zing to it.”

In his directorial debut “Mountainhead,...

Oscar winner Nicole Kidman stars as Romy, a high-powered CEO who jeopardizes her family and career when she starts an affair with Samuel, a younger intern (Harris Dickinson), in A24’s Babygirl. The official trailer shows the early flirtations that quickly escalate to a steamy, illicit affair.

“I really decided in the beginning, I want to make a sexual film, just as sexual as all these films that I’ve always admired so much, but now I’m going to do it completely through female eyes. What does that mean and what does that look like?” stated writer/director Halina Reijn (Bodies Bodies Bodies).

The cast also includes Sophie Wilde (Talk to Me) as Esme, Romy’s assistant, and Antonio Banderas as Romy’s husband, Jacob. Reijn’s behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography Jasper Wolf, production designer Stephen Carter, editor Matthew Hannam, and costume designers Kurt Swanson and Bart Mueller.