‘Mountainhead’: Jesse Armstrong Discusses the DOGE-Inspired Dark Second Act Turn and Surprising Final Scene

[Editor’s note: The pursuing question and reply contains spoilers for nan HBO movie “Mountainhead.”]

In “Succession,” nan cutthroat Roy family proved tin of covering up moreover manslaughter to protect their business, but Logan Roy (Brian Cox) himself mightiness blush astatine nan extremes of his tech-mogul counterparts successful creator Jesse Armstrong’s HBO follow-up “Mountainhead.”

While Armstrong was connected nan Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, he talked astir not wanting to do different communicative of nan uber-rich and powerful pursuing “Succession,” but aft reviewing Michael Lewis’ book astir crypto-crook Sam Bankman-Fried, and past listening to tech moguls connected nan “All In” and Lex Fridman podcasts, he couldn’t get nan Silicon Valley voices shaping our world retired of his head.

But it was much than nan measurement tech moguls talked, it was nan measurement they saw nan world and justified their progressively powerful spot successful it that led Armstrong to nan “Mountainhead” communicative of 4 tech bros’ play getaway and its astonishing (murderous) crippled twist.

“What I for illustration astir it is taking things to their logical conclusion — you know, zero-basing Elon [Musk’s] accuracy pinch DOGE, ‘Let’s trim everything other distant and rebuild,’” said Armstrong of his latest project’s acheronian 2nd enactment turn. “Following premises to their logical conclusions is funny and absorbing to me, and I deliberation very due for this world. Because for illustration really do you extremity up taking distant HIV narcotics from children who are going to die? How nan fuck do you get there? Will you get location because you person yourself that you’re pursuing immoderate perfectly logical process? That is terrifying. So I knew that I needed it to spell into [another space] morally.”

In “Mountainhead,” nan tangible, real-world effects of this reasoning are nan escalating world eruption of unit and chaos resulting from nan generative AI video devices Venis (Cory Michael Smith) has added to his societal media level Traam which, pinch its 4 cardinal users, has made him nan world’s richest man. While location are visible signs of cognitive dissonance arsenic nan 4 friends return successful each caller horrific news alert coming crossed their phones, nan group convinces themselves this chaos is yet a bully thing, akin to a wood occurrence accelerating nan caller maturation process.

On nan podcast, Armstrong indicated he couldn’t cognize for judge if nan tech bros he’s lampooning judge what they say, aliases if it is thing they show themselves truthful they tin slumber astatine night, but it almost doesn’t matter, arsenic his liking was pursuing their logic successful justifying nan havoc their tech was now wreaked.

“They often say, ‘From first principles, what are nan first principles? What we are trying to execute here?’ And if you commencement taking that attack and looking astatine it from a comic perspective, you tin get to immoderate funny and acheronian places,” said Armstrong.

The acheronian spot Armstrong is referring to is Venis, Randall (Steve Carell), and Souper (Jason Schwartzman) trying to execution nan 4th personnel of their crew, Jeff (Ramy Youssef) aft he dares to propose steps beryllium taken to slow nan unhinged Venis and nan chaos brought by Traam’s caller GenAI tools. Armstrong said nan execution crippled twist was 1 he came to early, arsenic it was nan inevitable consequence of his “following premises to its logical conclusions” exercise: Killing Jeff, a threat to a AI utopia (and nan tech oligarchs’ champion opportunity to hole nan world’s problems) would beryllium for nan greater good.

Armstrong had a blast penning nan 3 men debating nan morality of nan projected murder, including incorporating nan philosophies of history’s awesome thinkers into their argument.

“I deliberation 1 of nan things that happens successful that world is pulling connected nan mantle,” said Armstrong of nan murder-debate scene. “They for illustration nan stoics and Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, but I deliberation a point people, particularly men, do is scope for immoderate of that appealing-looking scent from nan highest taste shelf.”

‘Mountainhead’Macall Polay

Even girded by their civilized justifications for murder, nan 3 men many times neglect successful slapstick manner earlier Jeff convinces them of a less-violent intends to execute their goal, redeeming himself by agreeing to waste Venis nan AI-anecdote he desperately needs.

The biggest astonishment comes nan adjacent morning. Jeff had been nan audience’s sliver of dream that astatine slightest 1 of these masters of nan beingness had nan courage to effort to extremity nan world from burning. The assemblage would people presume that aft surviving a nighttime of his oldest friends trying to execution him, Jeff’s eyes were now afloat open. And it’s present Armstrong delivers his last gut punch — nan last segment of Jeff laughing it each disconnected and striking a Machiavellian woody to partner pinch Venis.

“Tonally, I knew that was wherever we would beryllium soon aft I had a greenish ray to [make ‘Mountainhead’],” said Armstrong of Venis and Jeff’s last segment successful nan driveway.

Armstrong admits he was tense his first ideas for nan film’s acheronian turns had nan imaginable to beryllium problematic, which is why earlier sitting down to constitute nan script, he gathered 4 of his “Succession” writers and producers — Jon Brown, Tony Roche, Will Tracy and Lucy Prebble (all of whom received executive shaper credits connected “Mountainhead”) — for a one-week writers’ room to find imaginable holes and research alternate communicative paths.

“I did a 1 week super-accelerated ’Is this gonna work? Am I crazy? What do you think?’ [writers’ room],” said Armstrong of his mini-“Succession” reunion. “We did immoderate thought experiments pinch what could nan worst point [that could] hap erstwhile [Jeff is successful nan sauna]. So I tried to entertain nan different possibilities, but I came retired of that room pinch nan aforesaid thought that I went successful pinch and that was nan ending of nan movie. That reside of an accommodation being made was what I wanted.”

“Mountainhead” is now streaming connected HBO Max.

To perceive Jesse Armstrong‘s afloat interview, subscribe to nan Filmmaker Toolkit podcast on Apple, Spotify, aliases your favourite podcast platform.