‘The Mountain’ Film Review: Jeff Goldblum Plays an Authoritative Lobotomist in 1950s-Set Drama

Let’s start here: the latest project from cinematic provocateur Rick Alverson (“The Comedy,” “Entertainment”) is probably best suited for the sort of on-a-loop side room you’d find in a modern art museum, where it could endlessly challenge viewers but give curious wanderers a quick way out if they’ve had enough. Alverson calls “The Mountain” an “anti-Utopian film,” but doesn’t that describe most movies these days? Where his effort does stand out is in its gravely stark, often breathtaking beauty, and its urgent desire to Make a Point. A cynic might wonder why a filmmaker who vocally disdains popular culture would...