“I tried to entertain the different possibilities”: Mountainhead director Jesse Armstrong breaks down the HBO film’s shocking ending

Succession showrunner Jesse Armstrong followed up his hit series with Mountainhead, another satirical comedy-drama that critiques the status quo through the discussions of a bunch of wealthy who's who. However, unlike the Shakespearean turn of events in the show, the film offers a nightmarish reality with an even more cynical outlook on the world.

Mountainhead follows a group of tech businessmen who end up on the top of a snowy mountain to discuss their future while the world is collapsing. Needless to say, they appear like despicable 21st-century villains. Yet, throughout their seemingly endless chatter, one person stands out as sane, who offers at least a less violent option to take over the world. With his optimism, he becomes a burden on the plans of others, who decide to kill him.

After somehow escaping that threat, Jeff (the saner billionaire) appears like a victim, but only for a few moments. It doesn't take him long to show his true colors and partner with one of his potential killers. Although plausible, the ending may have seemed like a twist to some viewers. So, during his recent appearance on Indiewire's Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, he broke down how he brainstormed with his writing team to come up with that shocking scene:

“I did a one-week super-accelerated ’Is this gonna work? Am I crazy? What do you think?’ [writers’ room]. We did some thought experiments with what could be the worst thing [that could] happen when [Jeff is in the sauna]. So I tried to entertain the different possibilities, but I came out of that room with the same idea that I went in with and that was the ending of the movie. That tone of an accommodation being made was what I wanted.”

However, he also pointed out that he had foreseen the final moments between Jeff and Venis:

“Tonally, I knew that was where we would be soon after I had a green light to [make ‘Mountainhead’].”

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers. Reader's discretion is advised.

Mountainhead director Jesse Armstrong discusses his writing process and the nightmarish second act

After finishing Succession, Jesse Armstrong wasn't thinking of working on another project about the psychological battles between billionaires. Still, he decided to work on a similar topic after listening to the discussions between tech billionaires. It revealed how they saw the world and how they justified their increasing hunger for power. That's how he came up with the idea of putting four tech-bros in the same space to let their imagination fly high.

However, much like real life, Mountainhead takes them to some murkier routes as they try to rebuild the world for their personal gain. The second act details this tragic shift in their arc. So, during his conversation with Indiewire, Armstrong revealed how it all came about in the script:

“What I like about it is taking things to their logical conclusion — you know, zero-basing Elon [Musk’s] philosophy with DOGE, ‘Let’s cut everything else away and rebuild. Following premises to their logical conclusions is funny and interesting to me, and I think very appropriate for this world."

He further added:

"Because like how do you end up taking away HIV drugs from children who are going to die? How the f**k do you get there? Will you get there because you convince yourself that you’re following some perfectly logical process? That is terrifying. So I knew that I needed it to go into [another space] morally.”

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Mountainhead is available to watch on HBO Max.

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