Mountainhead review – tech bros face off in Jesse Armstrong’s post-Succession uber-wealth satire

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Weapons-grade zingers come thick and fast in this chamber piece about four plutocrats on a weekend in a lodge that goes awry when the planet descends into chaos Jesse Armstrong has returned with what feels like a horribly addictive feature-length spin-off episode from the extended Succession Cinematic Universe – though without Succession cast members. It is set in a luxurious Utah megalodge which winds up resembling the Dr Strangelove war room, mixed with the apartment from Hitchcock’s Rope. Mountainhead is a super-satirical chamber piece about the deranged, cynical and facetious mindset of the uber-wealthy, the kind of people who think about ancient Rome every day, though not about Nero and his violin. It may not have the dramatic richness of Armstrong’s TV meisterwerk while the pure testosterone of this all-male main cast (minus any Shiv figure ) is oppressive – though that is kind of the point. The pure density of weapons-grade zingers in the script is a marvel. Our heroes are fo...
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‘I had to do my bit’: a history of controversial politics at the Oscars

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The fallout from Jonathan Glazer’s rousing yet willfully misconstrued acceptance speech makes him the latest in a long line of artists who have tried to use a public stage for good

There were relatively few surprises at this year’s Oscars – the grand history of Oppenheimer seducing voters, the grand handsomeness of Ryan Gosling seducing viewers – but an otherwise played-safe broadcast found itself in spikier territory when the British writer-director Jonathan Glazer took the stage.

The film-maker was collecting the award for best international feature for his unsettling second world war drama The Zone of Interest, set on the outskirts of Auschwitz, when he bucked the apolitical trend of the night to make a statement.

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