‘Mountainhead’ Mines AI Anxieties at Just the Right Time

Intelligence Platform. Imagine a future that may or may not be too far from now, in which an AI video generator is capable of cranking out an entire movie, its script derived from a large language model, fed nothing but the entire run of the HBO series Succession, and every article from the past six months written about the reigning

tech titans of our time, Zuckerberg, musk Altman. Maybe a dash of Peter Teel that may be the best way to explain Mountainhead, a new movie debuting May thirty first on HBO from Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Succession, the critically acclaimed series from the same network. I got a lot of thoughts to share about this one. Stick around. Welcome back to Strictly Business, where this week I'm going

deep on the new movie Mountain Head. In stark contrast to the typically glacial speed with which most movies or TV are developed, the film was conceived, pitched, and rushed through production in a matter of months because Armstrong felt strongly that his story would resonate most reflecting the current moment in our culture while we're still in it and does it ever, You don't have to work in Silicon Valley these days to be exposed to the constant churn

of headlines describing the Frankenstein like potential of a technology that allows just about anyone to conjure up hyper realistic images of anything their minds can imagine with lowered barriers to cost or distribution. But what's more, Mountainhead is being released at exactly the moment when AI fears must be kicking into overdrive. Look at what's just transpired in the past few weeks, starting with Google's release of VO three, the most sophisticated video generation tool to hit the mass

market to date. If that's not scary enough, Open Ai just unveiled the partnership with former Apple design guru Johnny Ive to release new AI power devices. Meanwhile, Meta is reportedly running into trouble developing its own Lama LM, invoking fears of what measures the company could take in order

to catch up. How serendipitous for Armstrong then, that his decision to make Mountainhead a rush job has resulted in a movie that could not have picked a scarier time to mine our anxieties about AI and the people with the power to deploy it in pursuit of profit. But Mountainhead is also a triumph of timing of the comedic variety, because while the plot might sound like a twenty first century spin on nineteen seven and these disaster movies, it

also manages to be uproariously funny. A masterclass in satire anchored by a quartette of actors capable of delivering lines with dead pant perfection. Mountainhead is set in an opulent mansion nestled in the snowy mountains of Utah, where four billionaire tech moguls have gathered for a few days of R and R. The timing of their vacation is fortuitous, as they're fairly isolated from the rest of the world, which happens to be descending into anarchy at the same time.

What's worse, several of these friends just might be responsible for this chaos, and as they watch the chaos unfold from the safe distance of their mobile phones, not even quality bro time or luxury amenities can keep reality entirely at bay. As the impending apocalypse turns the heat up on them. They start to turn on each other.

violence all over the globe. Part of what makes fountain Head compelling is that as the action unfolds and we learn more about each character from their actions and what they say, it sparks for the viewer and internal debate which of these characters is the most morally repugnant. The competition is stiff, starting with Hugo played by Jason Schwartzman, the owner of Mountainhead. Despite the fact he's the laggard of this foursome because he carried around the shame of

having a fortune in the sub billion dollar range. He might be the most sympathetic of the bunch were he clearly not using the whole get together as an excuse to get any of them to bankroll his new wellness apventure. And what's come clear in time is he's desperate enough to do anything to get their validation, let alone their money.

Says a lot about Mountainhead that it hands a veteran comedic genius like Schwartzman what is easily his best role since the movie that gave him his breakthrough way back in nineteen ninety eight, Rushmore. And yet the movie might belong to the least known of its four lead actors, Corey Michael Smith, who has handed the juiciest role as Venice, the CEO of the fiction Tram. He is two hundred and twenty billion dollar net worth, makes him the richest

of the group. Venice is something of a mashup of Zuckerberg and Musk, melding the formers move fast and break things ethos to grow his user base at all costs. With the latter's robotic ruthlessness. Venice's obscene wealth justifies an unbridled narcissism that reflects our worst fears of tech moguls. He repeatedly comments that other people on Earth just aren't on the same plane of existence with himself or his buddies. It's fitting for someone who's profiting from manufacturing images that

blur the lines between truth and fiction. He doesn't see other people as real. But what's interesting here is Armstrong doesn't right him as just a one dimensional monster. As the technology he's unleashed greeks havoc. Venice is invested with just enough self consciousness to be a little horrified by himself, just not to the point where he could be bothered

to filter his solib selic impulses. If Smith is a stand in for Zuckerberg, then Steve Carell is something of a Peter Thield type, an older brother advisor figure who he learned was Venice's first investor, but Correll's character is trying to hide a secret from his friends, which is that he's dying of some unspecified incurable medical condition that

gives him just years to live. Of course, he's too much of a narcissist to accept that, and he channels his denial into the belief that tram will eventually evolve into supporting transhumanism, a technology that will allow his soul to live forever once he's shuffled his mortal coil, and that delusion puts him at odds with the last character, Jeff, played by romy Yusef. Jeff seems to be possibly both

the most conscientious and deplorable character. He seems the most troubled by the circumstances playing out in the real world, yet not so troubled that he won't be rushed into a deal with Venice to sell him his own special blend of AI, which trams Board believes will help consumers

distinguish the difference between real and fake video. It's like Jeff has the antidote to the AI poison Venice is practically killing the world with, but won't release it because he has overdosed on the toxic masculinity that keeps these supposed friends, in a constant state of competitive one upmanship, are.

are so powerful that they're not entirely delusional. Listening to them talk about their ability to fix the world as casually as they would be repairing a car will surely bring to mind musks many public musings from the recently concluded Doge phase of his career, in which he convinced the current president to essentially hand over the keys to the US government.

separates it from Succession. Sure, there were flashes of moment that seemed ripped from the headlines of the media trade publications in Succession, but it's largely drawn from the exploits of the Murdochs and Redstones, many of which preceded the show by some years. Mountainhead isn't a sequel or spin off to Succession, but it also kind of is not a sequel in the conventional sense of the word, in that it doesn't continue the mythology of the Roy family

media empire in any way. But it is a sequel in the sense that Mountainhead's characters feel like they belong in the same world. Armstrong could have brought the world of Succession and mountain Head together in any number of cute crossovery kind of ways. I really half expected Kendall Roy to wander into any particular scene. Honestly, Armstrong could have swapped out Jason Schwartzman's character for Kendall, and this movie would have held up.

side mansion. The movie operates by a similar dynamic, so much so that I honestly think Armstrong could have, maybe should still put this story on a Broadway stage. But I don't want to overstate the similarities between the shows either, because Mountainhead is distinctive in a bunch of key ways. Succession is more of an actor showcase. The family drama lends itself to more emotional depth. It tilts more towards

drama than comedy the way fountain Head does. And I also want to make a distinction between Armstrong's two creations because fair warning, I don't think every Succession fan is going to like Mountainhead. Yes, it's situated in the same world, but there are some tonal differences that Succession fans looking for a spin off movie might be disappointed by. I don't want to ruin the movie with a spoiler, but

be ready for the story to take a turn. It's actually such a departure from this Succession world as to almost be like crossing over into magical realism. And I don't think some viewers are going to be ready to take that leap. It's like success It's like Succession, and that it's dark and funny at the same time. But this one just gets darker and darker and funnier and crazier in a way it just wouldn't make sense for Succession to do. But that's also the fun of Mountainhead.

It's like watching a car slip into a whole other gear you didn't know Armstrong could drive. Strangely, though Mountainhead gets more and more absurd as the story unfolds, it also captures the precariousness of the moment we as a societ society find ourselves in today. It conjures up just the kind of worst case scenarios that come to mind every time you read about AI or reckless moguls. That's enough for me for this week. Thanks for listening in.