It may be lots of enjoyable to see a world you understand nicely get lampooned, which is possibly why I felt ever-so-slightly out-of-the-loop whereas watching Mountainhead. Jesse Armstrong’s function directorial debut stars Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Ramy Youssef, and Cory Michael Smith because the world’s strongest and annoying tech-bro clique convening for a weekend retreat within the midst of roiling, worldwide chaos that considered one of them could or will not be answerable for (and that quite a lot of of them really feel uniquely able to quelling).
I’ve by no means labored in tech—apart from just a few months temping at a search-engine large that shall stay anonymous, from which I stole a ton of pens earlier than unceremoniously quitting—so it was onerous for me to inform whether or not the quickly paced, Succession-esque dialogue of Mountainhead bore any relationship to the true factor (particularly since no one who was completely employed at mentioned firm spoke to me at my temp job).
So, I turned to some present and former big-tech workers for his or her ideas on how the movie mirrored their trade. Under, discover analyses of Mountainhead from among the individuals who would know greatest:
Nameless tech-world veteran and startup founder:
“Mountainhead felt like anyone had listened to a LOT of All-In podcasts within the creation course of. I feel it over-rotated on the bro-ness of the blokes. Tech moguls could do bro-y stuff, however they don’t have bro-y personalities. They’re nonetheless extra nerdy than they’re bro-y. The “certain, we are able to run the world” informal confidence is extra frequent amongst enterprise capitalists than individuals who really function firms.”
Nameless journalist who has lined tech:
“This complete ‘We are able to marry a Fb-like firm to AI and it’ll change into superhuman in a single day’ factor is ridiculous. Naturally, so is killing the top of the AI firm. Tech has an excessive amount of energy, however AI goes to be not less than nearly as good as it’s dangerous (for some time, not less than). Everybody within the film is both a doomer or a tech boomer; it’s foolish.”
Nameless big-tech alum:
“Was Jason Schwartzman homosexual? He ought to have been. Visibility issues! Ramy’s look was the perfect as a result of it was essentially the most schlubby. That hit. However somebody ought to have seemed absurdly dangerous, for those who requested me, i.e. Sam Altman’s Henleys or Mark Zuckerberg’s present Jap Bloc-drug-dealer part. The chat was so slick from the start and, in my expertise, these guys have much more awkward pauses. I might have had extra safety, each in particular person (Elon has extra safety than Trump!) and on their telephones. The venue was proper, in that wealthy techies love an expansive breakfast bar that nobody eats, so I used to be blissful to see that. The decor was additionally proper; modern-ish and quiet luxury-ish, however not, like, mid-century-modern stylish. I additionally appreciated that the chief of employees was a lady sufficiently old to be Cory’s mother (that’s the Sheryl Sandberg nod).”
