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Aisha Harris
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Gene Demby
Perhaps you're still going through succession withdrawal two years after that hit HBO show concluded. You're in luck because creator Jesse Armstrong is back with Mountainhead, a new movie with new characters who are just as insanely wealthy, insanely powerful and deeply insecure as the Roy family was.
Linda Holmes
Four tech moguls gather for what's supposed to be a low key guy's weekend of poker, and among them are Steve Carell and Jason Schwartzman. But business and unchecked, overinflated egos quickly lead them all down a very dark path. I'm Linda Holmes.
Gene Demby
And I'm Aisha Harris. And today we're talking about Mountainhead on Pop Culture Happy hour from NPR.
Aisha Harris
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Gene Demby
Joining us today is one of the hosts of NPR's Code Switch podcast, Gene Demby. Welcome back, Gene.
What's good, y' all? Oh, my God, I'm so excited to talk about this with y' all.
I know this is gonna be very fun, but as we were lamenting right before we started taping this, we will unfortunately not be able to drop any swear words in here.
Linda Holmes
Yeah, it's true.
Gene Demby
Oh, man.
This is a very, very swear heavy movie to be expected from Jesse Armstrong. So, Mountainhead. It's about a group of very rich frenemies who get together for a snowy mountain weekend. Hang Hugo, AKA super, plays host in his newly built mansion. He's played by Jason Schwartzman.
Unnamed Speaker
Have these been pre pitted?
Aisha Harris
Yes.
Unnamed Speaker
Which means that some little greasy monster from Whole Foods has had his little fingers in them and I don't like that.
Gene Demby
Yes. Then there's Randall, played by Steve Carell. He's dealing with some health issues, but is keeping it all under wraps.
Unnamed Speaker
Cancer was net. Net. A big positive wisdom. 50% increase. Purpose meaning both way up.
Gene Demby
Rami Youssef is Jeff. He amassed his wealth creating an AI he's convinced is for the good of humanity.
I've got zero shot, learning and the essence of justice in a box. And you've got what, 4chan on acid?
Awesome.
I'm selling a filter for nightmares. That's not the kind of business that slows down.
Ah, delusions. Delusions of grandeur. And then there's Venice, played by Corey Michael Smith. He's another tech creator and his platform just launched a new upgrade to its generative AI which has directly led to mass chaos and violence across the globe.
Unnamed Speaker
We're going to show users as much as possible until everyone realizes nothing's that serious. Yeah, nothing means anything and everything's funny and cool.
Precisely Funny.
Gene Demby
As the rest of the world burns and the White House starts a call in, they conspire to seize the moment and profit off the turmoil as one does. But cracks in their friendship begin to show and the vibes take quite a turn. Mountainhead is streaming on Max now. Linda, I hear tell that you really, really loved this. Tell us more. Tell us more.
Linda Holmes
I did. I really, really liked this. In fact, I've watched it twice. The first time I really. The second time I really loved it for essentially two independent reasons, one of which is, as you could hear in some of those clips, I think it's very, very funny. Jesse Armstrong, before he was making succession, has a long history in the Armando Iannucci arm of British comedy. And so he was comedy writer first. And this is much more of a dark comedy farce. Yeah, much more purely that than Succession, which was sort of a mix of this really affecting drama with a lot of dark comedy. But I also. It is so insightful about why these guys are so useless. And the first thing you see is Venice in his car with some of his, like, whatever hangers on his team, and he does something that is not funny at all, and they all tell him how funny it is. And you realize that Armstrong's point about these guys is how, other than being rich, how fully unremarkable they are.
Unnamed Speaker
Shall I put that watch the full fat product globally and just be like, with two U's?
What about with, like, three U's?
I don't know. I like two.
Gene Demby
Yeah.
Unnamed Speaker
No, two. Two is genius.
Linda Holmes
Other than the Ramy Youssef character, who we can talk about a little bit, he's a little bit differently pitched than some of these guys. None of them are capable of being funny on purpose or witty on purpose. Everything they say sounds foolish. They are completely devoid of wisdom. They are utterly unremarkable except for how much money they have. And I think in that sense, this is a bleak and brutal and unfortunately, kind of feels horrible because it's true kind of movie to me. But I sort of loved the pain of it and the writing of it, which I just. Oh, my gosh. I do really, really love Jesse Armstrong's writing.
Gene Demby
Yeah, loved the pain. Put that. Slap that on the poster for this movie.
It hurts so good.
It hurts so good. Gene, give me a vibe check here. How are you feeling about this?
Oh, man, I really, really dug it. That scene that Linda just pointed to where they're in the car, and I guess it's like his chief of staff, you know, his handlers, sycophants. Though. It reminded me of that detail in the new book Careless People, which is from a former Facebook insider's perspective, like, what it was like to work with Zuckerberg and some of the other higher ups there. And she had this detail about how Mark Zuckerberg, like everybody around him, just let him win at board games all the time just to make him feel good about himself. They never wanted to make him not think that he was the smartest dude in the room. And that's clearly where all these people are. They've been ensconced in a cocoon and then sniffing their own farts. And so all four of them, this quartet sort of gets together for this boys Trip. And then there's this scene. It just feels very succession. But of course, in succession. It would be like a whole bunch of stuff leading up to it. But there's a scene like in the first maybe 20, 25 minutes of the movie in which this quartet is at the top of this mountain. They're comparing each other's net worths by like writing that number in lipstick on their chest. And so it's kind of like a pissing contest, but also like, it's giving like manifestation practice. It's giving like a little absolutely vision board energy. Like they're shouting out the stuff they really want. You know what I mean?
Linda Holmes
100%.
Unnamed Speaker
Gentlemen, let us shout. Mountain God, accelerator, legacy, manifestation. Mountain God, accelerator, legacy, manifestation.
Gene Demby
It just was like so ridiculous in cartoon. It was so funny.
Linda Holmes
There's like light woo to how they talk, which is, I think, true to light.
Gene Demby
Exactly. Right?
Yeah. The light woo is a great description. It's also just like trying to convince yourselves of something that you don't even really believe in. Right. Like, there is so much. This is a net positive. We're doing this for the good of the. Of the world. And like, we're not really bad people. Like, even though we know that these people don't really care about anyone else, the fact that they feel like they need to seem as if they care or that they are actually contributing something good into the world is a really fascinating thing to sort of latch onto. I think I found myself both very entertained by this and very much enjoying it and very much, especially appreciating how kind of off the deep end it goes, because it does make a very sharp turn later in the movie. But at the end of it, I also felt like, I think I know how I feel about it as just like pure entertainment. I was entertained again. It did scratch that succession itch for me. And as far as this entire genre of we're gonna watch extremely rich people show the worst of themselves in this moment. That is a genre now. From everything from Knives out to pick your Nicole Kidman starring movie or TV show, like it's its own genre now. I think this is one of the better versions of it, but I also still felt like left it feeling like. And what. Was there anything new revealed that hadn't been revealed to me over the course of four seasons of succession or any.
Other show or walking around the world?
Yeah, I'm just like, oh, this is just also the news. There's value in that. But I also struggle with whether or not I actually, if I go Back and watch this. In five years, am I gonna be as entertained? I don't know. And that's what I'm struggling with.
Linda Holmes
Personally, I will say I don't think really ever got into the question of why are these people so foolish? Because the people in Succession, particularly some of them. Right. Shiv is not a foolish person. She's not a not smart person. She's just an amoral person.
Gene Demby
Yeah, that's right.
Linda Holmes
It's the same thing with at least Logan, I would say. There's a lot of Roman, I think, in the Ramy Yousef character, Jeffrey R. So much Roman.
Gene Demby
Yeah.
Linda Holmes
In that he really is funny. And it's the thing that kind of keeps bringing you back and thinking, maybe he's not quite so wicked because he is funny.
Gene Demby
He's not irredeemable.
Linda Holmes
Yeah. But I think what they do that Succession didn't do is they are kind of poking at what are some of the kind of toxic things that they've begun to believe. There's actually a moment where Venice asks Randall, the Steve Carell character, do you believe in other people? And he's not saying, do you believe in the goodness of other people, or do you think you can trust other people? He's gotten to the point where he's saying, do you really think it's possible that there are billions of other people who are just as real as we are? He's genuinely starting to say, do you believe in other people? So I think exploring some of that's interesting. But even more than that, I watched this and I came away thinking about, okay, so this is why these guys are fools, because how do you learn if you are these guys? You can't learn from consequences because for the most part, you don't experience any.
Gene Demby
Yeah, they have the White House on speed dial.
Linda Holmes
Exactly. You can't learn from other people because nobody will tell you the truth. You can't learn from history because your exceptionalism about yourself makes you believe that what has happened historically doesn't have anything to do with you, because there's never been anybody like you. And if you can't learn from consequences and you can't learn from other people and you can't learn from history, that's how you become a fool and stay a fool. And it's interesting because the Steve Carell character clearly has some actual. Like, he's studied. He knows about certain things. He's interested in philosophy and ancient history and stuff like that. He's only. He only cares about certain things. Like, he's kind of Studied it to kind of pull out morsels about greatness in a way.
Unnamed Speaker
My view, and it's essentially Hegelian, is that the whole of history operates on the what Cool principle. Bronze what? Oh, cool Civilization. Iron what? Oh, cool Empire.
Gene Demby
He's the wooiest of them all.
Linda Holmes
He's the wooiest of them. But the rest of them, you just get the sense that their worlds are limited to what they're doing in these businesses, and that's why they're fools. And I did find that to be an interesting insight that I don't think you got as much from succession, because that was more about morality than it was about people just being absolutely devoid of insight about anything.
Gene Demby
Yeah, that's fair. And I think it also makes a difference that Steve Carell is the oldest out of all of those characters, you know, and the fact that this dramatic license to confine them to this mansion, for the most part, this movie takes place almost entirely in the mansion.
It's like a bott. Sort of.
Yeah, it's basically a battle episode. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Also, just to Linda's point about the wooiness of Steve Carell's character, like, Steve Carell's also sort of running up against something that he can't sort of, like, will himself out of, just, like, his money and his wealth. A big part of his motivation in this movie is like, all right, I can just warp reality around me all the time because I'm so rich and have so much power, but I can't do it in this case. And someone is telling him something that he can't do anything about, and he's like, you're a stupid person. Right?
Yes. Yes.
You're looking at certainly five, probably 10, maybe 15 years.
Unnamed Speaker
You're not a very intelligent person, are you, Dr. Phipps?
Gene Demby
I do get a little bit of consolation out of watching characters like this. Like, watching Randall, who thinks, like, he's invincible and that he can work around his mortality, I get pleasure out of saying, like, well, they seem very miserable. Like, at least I have that.
At least they seem deeply unhappy.
Yeah, yeah. Now, let's get into the sort of third act twist here. Yes, we are gonna get into spoilers for the last part of the movie. So you have been warned. The basic gist of this is that Jeff, played by Ramy Youssef, and Venice, played by Corey Michael Smith, they are the biggest frenemies. They are the sort of the most at each other's throats, shall we say? Jeff suggests to Randall, the Steve Carell character, like, that he Needs to, like, get him off the board of his company because he's ruining everything. And then Randall is not happy about that because Randall asked Venice, like, hey, this, like, AI thing, I want you to work on something to make me make it so that, like, I could live forever. You know, make me immortal. Which turns into Randall, Venice, and Super all conspiring to try and kill Jeff.
Linda Holmes
And at first, it's like when Randall first suggests killing Jeff because, as Aisha said, like, you know, Jeff is threatening to interfere with Randall's plans for immortality. So when he first starts to suggest killing Jeff, he's like, I'm not. Literally, we should kill Jeff. But he clearly is from the beginning. And I very much like that whole. I think that whole exchange is really funny.
Unnamed Speaker
That's just a galaxy brain move, is to kill Jeff. So we should work back from there and find a solution that has the same outcome as killing Jeff that obviously doesn't involve the killing of Jeff.
Right.
Gene Demby
I'm not saying we should kill him. I'm saying I have no priors about what the other options might be.
Linda Holmes
Oh, my God. One of the things I love about this film is the way that it's written, so that it includes the way these guys talk where they don't say anything, but they're constantly talking. It is very, very funny. And you do get. I think in this section, you get one of the things I appreciate about this, which is Steve Carell has done a lot of things in the last several years, some of which I've enjoyed really a lot, that are not Michael Scott. However, in this movie, from time to time, you get. What if Michael Scott had billions of dollars?
Gene Demby
Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Unnamed Speaker
I just feel like the universe is, like, taking. It's like taking a grip, and it's easing me apart. Like my torso is being levered apart with tremendous force. And, like, the emptiness of the galaxies is just like rushing in.
Not good.
Linda Holmes
When Randall says not good. That is Michael Scott through and through. And as they move into this, we should kill Jeff, there's a part where they talk about if Jeff can defend himself with a razor, like, with a shaving razor. That's very Michael Scott. I really loved all the performances in this film equally, pretty much, which I really was surprised by. I'm not always a Jason Schwartzman guy, but I thought he was great in this. I thought he was really funny. And Supes is such a pitiful. You know, he's kind of the punching bag because he's only worth $500 million.
Gene Demby
Well, that. Well, I Loved that. Reveal that the reason they call him Supes or Super is because he is the, quote, unquote, poorest of them all. And they compare him to a soup kitchen. And I'm just like, oh, my goodness, yes, that is a great joke. That is a great joke with a payoff.
Linda Holmes
The whole time, he's kind of wanting to be, like, a cool guy who's in these conversations. And once they decide to kill Jeff, he's kind of constantly doing, like, the, should we really kill Jeff? Can we step back from killing Jeff? Because it's his house. And so he's partly worried about killing Jeff in his house, as he should be. And like, the other. And there's a moment where they're gonna kill Jeff and they don't. That's very funny because there's a couple.
Gene Demby
Moments where they try.
Linda Holmes
They kind of wind up hanging Supes out to Je a little bit, and it's really fun. Like, I thought it was really funny. I get that. In some ways, it is preposterous. And I would also have watched a version of this movie where you're much more staying tethered to reality while they talk about what they're going to do about this meltdown of the world. But I was also fine with this. Ultimately, very slapsticky. Ultimately, there's a squeegee. I thought it was very funny, and it delighted me.
Gene Demby
Absolutely. These are not people who get their hands dirty at all. Right. Even though they're, like, very cavalier about the sort of chaos that they're sowing.
In the world and taking over a country, they're like, who's gonna get this?
Let's just coo it out a little bit. Let's just coo it out.
Let's coo it out. Well, maybe, you know, how about a pre. Pardon?
Linda Holmes
They all sound like Jesse Armstrong dialogue, but they all sound different.
Gene Demby
They all sound like themselves.
Linda Holmes
And I feel like I could go through and identify a lot of lines and say, well, this would only be this guy versus this guy.
Gene Demby
There's that moment in which they're all watching the chaos that Venice's app has unleashed onto the world. Like, on their phones. It's like, oh, these people are sort of enslaved to the same technology, right? They just all sort of like, it's on the nose with. That's fine, right? It's like one of the critiques of, like, concentrated wealth is always that it's inherently anti democratic. Like, there's no amount of public support or public opposition to anything that really matters. If, like, A bunch of people can say, like, I don't want that, or I do. You know, I want the opposite of that.
Right.
And these dudes very much live in that space where, like, oh, well, my will is I can get. We can get there to happen. Like, the part when they're planning a coup of a Latin American country from his theater is like, oh, this is unhinged. But also, isn't that implausible? I truly don't know.
No, it is not. No, it is not.
Linda Holmes
You find yourself having that feeling, right? Like, how far are we from how some of this would go? And I think, fortunately, none of these guys map perfectly onto existing tech people. I don't think that's the game. I don't think it's this guy is this guy and this guy is this guy. And that gives them, I think, more freedom to kind of play with what these guys talk about doing.
Gene Demby
Well, let's be real. That's also because so many of those real life guys are kind of the same person.
Linda Holmes
Well.
Gene Demby
They all have a lot of overlapping qualities that could match.
Linda Holmes
They have overlapping qualities, but I think it's smart that you don't look at it and be like, okay, so this is the Musk. This is the Zuckerberg. This is the whatever.
Gene Demby
Yeah, yeah. Well, okay. It sounds like I've turned my life around and come around on Mountain Head. We want to know what you think about Mountainhead. Find us on Facebook@facebook.com PCHH and on Letterboxd@letterboxd.com NPRpopculture we'll have a link to that in our episode description. That brings us to the end of our show. Gene Demby, Linda Holmes, thanks so much for being here. This was such a. A fun weekend. Hang in the mountains.
I'm glad I got to do this. Thank you.
Linda Holmes
I hope that you both get your B nut.
Gene Demby
Don't curse me with that.
Be nuts for all of us. Just a reminder that signing up for Pop Culture Happy Hour plus is a great way to support our show and public radio. And you get to listen to all of our episodes sponsor free. That's almost like having a B. Yeah. So please, please go find out more at plus.NPR.org happyar or visit the link in our show notes. This episode was produced by Liz Metzger and Mike Katzeff and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello. Kamin provides our theme music. Thanks so much for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. I'm Aisha Harris. We'll see you all next time.
Unnamed Speaker
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Pop Culture Happy Hour: Detailed Summary of "Watch This: Mountainhead"
Podcast Information:
In the June 3, 2025 episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour, hosts Linda Holmes, Gene Demby, and Aisha Harris delve into Jesse Armstrong's latest creation, the movie Mountainhead. Armstrong, renowned for his work on HBO's Succession, brings to the screen a new narrative exploring the lives of immensely wealthy yet deeply insecure individuals, reminiscent of the Roy family dynamics.
Mountainhead follows four tech magnates who convene for what is intended to be a tranquil weekend of poker at Hang Hugo's (Jason Schwartzman) newly constructed mountain mansion. However, the veneer of camaraderie quickly disintegrates as business rivalries and inflated egos propel the group into dark, unforeseen conflicts.
Hang Hugo (Jason Schwartzman):
Randall (Steve Carell):
Notable Quote:
"Ah, delusions. Delusions of grandeur."
— Gene Demby [04:13]
Jeff (Ramy Youssef):
Venice (Corey Michael Smith):
Supes:
The hosts highlight Mountainhead's adept use of dark comedy to critique the superficiality and folly of extreme wealth. The film delves into how these affluent individuals, despite their resources, are fundamentally unremarkable and devoid of genuine wisdom.
Notable Quote:
"It is so insightful about why these guys are so useless... how fully unremarkable they are."
— Linda Holmes [05:00]
Key Themes:
Humor Elements:
Notable Quote:
"Gentlemen, let us shout. Mountain God, accelerator, legacy, manifestation."
— Unnamed Speaker [08:22]
While both Mountainhead and Succession explore the dynamics of wealthy families, Mountainhead leans more heavily into dark farce and pure comedy. The hosts note that Succession blends drama with dark humor, whereas Mountainhead focuses intensively on the comedic aspects of moral and personal decay among the elite.
Notable Quote:
"This scratch that succession itch for me."
— Gene Demby [07:14]
Net Worth Lipstick Scene (08:22):
Conspiracy to Kill Jeff (15:37):
Notable Quote:
"One of the things I love about this film is the way that it's written, so that it includes the way these guys talk where they don't say anything, but they're constantly talking. It is very, very funny."
— Linda Holmes [15:59]
Inability to Learn:
Notable Quote:
"You can't learn from consequences because for the most part, you don't experience any."
— Linda Holmes [12:00]
Light Woo and Self-Deception:
Notable Quote:
"The light woo is a great description. It's also just like trying to convince yourselves of something that you don't even really believe in."
— Gene Demby [08:43]
Reflection of Real-World Tech Elite:
Notable Quote:
"You find yourself having that feeling, right? Like, how far are we from how some of this would go?"
— Linda Holmes [20:14]
The hosts collectively appreciate Mountainhead for its sharp writing, compelling performances, and its satirical take on wealth and power. While acknowledging that the film treads familiar ground established by Succession and other similar narratives, they recognize Mountainhead as a standout entry in the genre, thanks to its unique blend of humor and critique.
Notable Quote:
"I do really, really love Jesse Armstrong's writing."
— Linda Holmes [07:02]
Impact and Longevity: Gene Demby raises a pertinent question about the film's lasting entertainment value, pondering whether it will retain its allure over time.
Notable Quote:
"I struggle with whether or not I actually, if I go back and watch this in five years, am I gonna be as entertained?"
— Gene Demby [10:22]
"Mountainhead" offers a trenchant satire of the ultra-wealthy, wrapped in dark humor and sharp dialogue. Pop Culture Happy Hour's detailed examination highlights the film's strengths in character development, thematic depth, and comedic brilliance, making it a must-watch for enthusiasts of smart, reflective cinema.
This summary encapsulates the rich discussions, key points, and insightful critiques presented by Linda Holmes, Gene Demby, and Aisha Harris, providing a comprehensive overview for those who haven't yet experienced the episode.