Review Billionaire banter riffs inside its vile cocoon

Jesse Armstrong has returned with what feels like a horribly addictive feature-length spinoff episode from the extended Succession cinematic universe - though without Succession cast members.

- Peter Bradshaw

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 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 four unspeakable American tech plutocrats, a Billionaire Boys Club with one mere centimillionaire who isn't up to "bill" status; this beta-male cuck of their peer group is nicknamed Souper [short for soup kitchen] because of his poverty, and he is their eager host.