Mountainhead’s ending is a surreal turn of events that reminds you that humanity is truly on the brink. HBO Max’s TV film tells the story of 4 tech-bros who have their regular weekend getaway at the titular spot, one of their homes, in the middle of a snowy mountain range. The billionaires have gathered to chill and have a fun weekend, but this is, of course, impossible when you’re a billionaire whose app has essentially just set fire to the whole darn world. In Mountainhead, Jeff can be considered the “good” guy. He has what you could call a sense of self-control, and he’s grounded, despite his growing wealth and position in the world. On the other hand, there’s Venis, whose company, Traam, has launched a new updated version of their AI program that has basically turned the world upside down because of how realistic its fake content can be. On the surface, Mountainhead feels like a rapid current of jargon that you may not understand if you’re unfamiliar with the opulent world of billionaire tech bros. But this film is a profound reminder of the kind of world we live in, where billionaires can, in 24 hours, decide the fate of millions, just as a joke. While it seems like Randall, the oldest of the lot, who is also dying from cancer, is the moral compass of the group, he actually turns out to be the most selfish of the lot, ready to kill so that he can become virtually immortal. So does he succeed? And what happens to Jeff?
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Randall Conspire To Kill Jeff?
At the beginning of Mountainhead, Jeff and Venis (Ven) seem to be almost at odds with each other because Ven wants to buy Jeff’s company, but the latter isn’t willing to sell. With his AI tech, Ven believes he can essentially save the world, or something like that. But this is obviously far from the truth because what Ven’s done right now has put the entire world at risk through this new upgrade. Now everything feels cool and chill until all of a sudden they start talking about conquering the world and coup-de-ta’ing the USA. It’s both funny and terrifying that these 4 people, all billionaires, have enough money to not only joke about taking over the world but actually get things in motion to do so. Throughout the film, the quartet continues to check for updates on what’s going on in the world, how non-first-world countries are going “down,” and how Traam-generated content is pushing people to commit crime and become genocidal.
Through all of this, Ven’s God complex pushes him to believe that the storm will pass, and he will emerge victorious and not be perceived as the devil that the world is “making him out to be.” But one thing is certain, Jeff, whose company is, at the start of their reunion, worth 68 billion, has already crossed Randall in valuation in half a day. I think one could say that this is when Randall really starts to feel a bit annoyed by innocent Jeff. Ven’s already mad at him, but I guess this pushes him to be further upset. This is a triggering point, so to speak. Now, at the beginning of the movie, we learn that Randall is dying from cancer, and despite the most expensive doctors in the world telling him he’s not going to survive more than 10-15 years, he thinks they’re stupid and doesn’t believe a word of it. But more importantly, he asks Ven to make him the first person to have his consciousness uploaded online. Randall was Ven’s first investor, so of course, he’d comply, but more importantly, if together they’re able to get Jeff on board, then it’s a win-win situation for them.
But then, innocent Jeff ends up telling Randall that he wants to go through Traam’s board and essentially sabotage Ven into taking a small break (like Steve Jobs apparently) until things calm down a little bit. Randall has about a decade, 15 years at best. Ven told him that with Jeff’s AI, it would take him 5 years to do the human consciousness upload, so of course, Randall, being the selfish billionaire that he is, chooses to side with Ven. But rather than talking to his friend, who literally calls him “Papa Bear,” he chooses to tell Hugo and Ven what Jeff’s plan is and then conspires to kill him!
These guys really don’t care about humanity; we’ve already seen how they talk about them. Also, it’s kind of wild that Randall mentions that Ven can “fix” Palestine in the middle of their takeover talk. But this is their friend they’re talking about, and the only reason they want him dead is because he isn’t agreeing to comply with their plan for a “better future.” Hugo’s the most decent of this lot, but his selfish nature comes from being insecure as the poorest billionaire of the lot (how sad). So he joins hands with the duo on the condition they agree to buy out his own wellness-lifestyle (some crap) app.
Does Jeff Die?
No, Jeff doesn’t die, because he’s a gambler, and he’s smart, so he decides to gamble with his life, making the gang a deal and agreeing to some stuff with his tech merging with Traam. We don’t find out exactly what. He’s nearly pushed over a railing, suffocated with a pillow, and almost burnt alive in the sauna, but somehow these people don’t end up being the stone-cold killers they seem to embody. Yet Jeff’s survival isn’t a coincidence; instead, it feels like this is what Ven had planned the whole time, because all of these people are gamblers. The whole point of their coming to “Mountainhead” was to play poker. But instead of doing it with chips, they did it with lives (and countries).
In Mountainhead’s ending, Ven opens up to Jeff and tells him that the whole thing was Randall’s plan, and he hasn’t been in the right headspace. Jeff tells him that he found the whole thing quite funny and that he’s happy to make a deal with Ven only if Randall’s out of the picture. This is essentially war, because Jeff trusted Randall all this time, and he cared about him for real. He told him that he loved him and bought the whole gang special whiskeys. But none of it really matters. I suppose the whole “nearly-getting-killed-by-my-friends” situation essentially changed Jeff and made him kind of invincible. If he survived that, he can survive taking his company back from Ven. They even agree on making a side bet, which brings the light back into Ven’s eyes, as if none of the weekend’s events had any effect on him. They’re monsters. But Randall’s going to end up dead, and Hugo’s going to be stuck in his hermitage in the snow. As for Jeff and Ven, they’ll continue to work as frenemies and probably burn the world down in the process.
What Does Hugo’s Wellness App Signify?
The most comical thing about Mountainhead is how Hugo keeps going back to mental health in the middle of all the “real” scary stuff. In the end, he uses his own creation, Slowzo, a wellness and lifestyle app that is essentially a yoga guru on your phone to make you calm amidst the chaos in the world. I suppose you could say it’s like a metaphor for the delulu mindset that these rich men have. They think they can save the world by creating more worthless tech. But first, they need to figure out how to save themselves from themselves, and yes, they really need to come out of their bubbles and stop living in denial.
What Does “Mountainhead” Stand For?
On the surface, Mountainhead is a reference to the comfy fort that the rich “protect” themselves with. It’s got glass windows to look out from so that they can safely watch as the world lights up from the fire they’ve started. The movie also references “Fountainhead,” the book by Ayn Rand. Jeff pulls Hugo’s leg by asking if Ayn “Bland” designed it. I suppose the irony in this is that the tech bros think they can self-actualize if they immortalize themselves, but they hide under the guise of wanting to help the world when it all comes from selfish impulses. Randall wants to live, but won’t admit it. Ven wants to be all-powerful and rule the world. Hugo wants to become as rich as the rest of them (and bring up mental health all the time). Finally, Jeff, who seems to be the only one with a moral compass, is also hoping to be the best of the lot. However, the unfortunate truth is, apart from Randall, the rest of them are free and able to achieve everything they want to.
Does Jeff Change?
In the end, one can say that Jeff changes his mindset because his attitude towards his girlfriend transforms. We know he was a paranoid man who had her followed out of fear she’d cheat. But after having a near-death experience, or rather being nearly murdered, he’s probably unbothered, because the only thing on his mind now is probably getting revenge and holding onto his company.
Will Randall Die?
You cannot change the inevitable. Randall may get his consciousness uploaded, or he may find himself shipped off to another planet, cancer cured, but he will eventually die for sure. But now that they want to throw him out, he’s going to get depressed and probably lose his mind too.
