Breaking into the US market is a big deal for home talent, as it should be considering all the opportunities that come from it.

It’s impressive then how many UK actors have done so in recent years, especially when you think of the pool of US talent they are regularly getting chosen over.

And although the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne etc are killing it, it’s more unusual for British writing talent to make it big, especially in the US TV sector.

Someone who did succeed was Jesse Armstrong. Having made an name for himself creating and writing the likes of Peep Show and Fresh Meat with his writing partner Sam Bain, Jesse Armstrong then went stateside on his own to become creator, showrunner and writer for the US TV show Succession, that went on to become a phenomenal global hit.

Now he makes his directorial debut with Mountainhead, which he’s also written.

Four of the world’s richest men just so happen to be friends, and are about to hang out at their annual reunion. This year it’s taking place at Mountainhead, a very cool place in a snowy, remote part of the US, which one of them, Souper (Jason Schwartzman), has recently purchased and is keen to show off.

Also attending are Venice (Cory Michael Smith), Jeff (Ramy Yousesef) and Randall (Steve Carell), all of whom, along with Souper, have made their money in the tech sector.

It’s an important time for Venice as his social media platform Traam has just received a big update that is making the news. Unfortunately for him, it’s all bad, as it’s being reported that its being used to produce some startling fake news that is having a massive effect on the global economy, and things are getting very serious, which is getting in the way of their brewsters weekend.

With the world in such turmoil, they start to consider a solution, which would involve them basically using their impressive resources to take over the world. Unfortunately one of them isn’t sold on this idea, and proves to be somewhat of an obstacle, which is something that these guys are far from used to; in their line of business if they face an obstacle they remove it, and so they put a plan together to do just that, even if it’s by unconventional means.

Armstrong’s debut film isn’t a million miles away from Succession, and could well be described as Succession adjacent, just moving over from the world of media to tech.

The difference here however is that although there’s plenty of dark humour in his Emmy award-winning show, he does a This is Spinal Tap by moving it all the way to eleven.

It’s certainly a different proposition for him, as a writer at least, although he has written for film before, such as co-writing the classic Four Lions. But in keeping with Succession this is very wordy, making it feel very much like a play, which is made more so by the fact that it all takes place in the same locale.

It’s very sharp and witty, almost to the point of being smothered in well-crafted smugness, but unlike a an episodic TV show, you don’t have as much time to develop characters and themes, so it often feels quite dense with so much dialogue and little space for it to simply breathe.

There’s also a hint of the Armando Iannucci about it all, which is no surprise, as Armstrong has written for The Thick of It, VEEP and the In The Loop film, capturing that same political satire here.

As a director however, he allows his smart cast to just run with it, with all of them clearly enjoying the opportunity to wrestle with both the barb-wired dialogue and concept as a whole. And the fact that it all takes place, in what often feels like a Bond villain lair, obviously allowed him to concentrate on the dialogue and performances more.

It is then, if you’re a fan of Succession, more of the same, albeit more warped, as if it was forced to take cocaine and acting hyped for its duration.

Certainly the fact that it’s a film works against it, with the characters fairly unlikeable from the off – as were all the characters in Succession for the first couple of episodes – but not having that luxury of time to warm to them.

But it’s more proof, as if needed, that Armstrong is one of our most talented writers, and if you enjoy dialogue with an acerbic-witted edge to it, this comes mightily close to reaching that comedic summit.