Written and directed by Brady Corbet, The Brutalist is an original story about László Tóth, an immigrant from Hungary chasing the American Dream. Starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce, this three-and-a-half-hour epic period drama film is now showing in cinemas worldwide. 

As a well-accomplished architect and Holocaust survivor, László Tóth immigrated to the United States after being forcibly separated from his wife and orphaned niece. He first works with Atilla, his cousin, at his furniture business, and they are soon commissioned by Harry Lee Van Buren, son of wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren, to renovate a part of their home as a surprise. At first, Harrison is enraged to see the state of the renovations after arriving home earlier than expected, firing everyone without pay.

Coming to admire the innovative designs and craftsmanship, he decides to hire László for a large-scale project. While things are looking promising and the construction of the new building is getting people talking, various problems arise that complicate matters; logistical issues, egos clashing, and other personal matters, and they could affect everyone involved. 

Adrien Brody puts on a brilliant performance as László Tóth, demonstrating the struggles of someone who had everything they could want, only to have it all taken away and have to work hard to try to gain it all back in a foreign land.

Throughout the film, he also struggles with drug addiction and the realities of working with wealthy businessmen, but he also does his best to help others in need by providing them with construction jobs, giving them the means to earn a living to stay off the streets and out of homeless shelters. László shows a lot of character development throughout the film, from being humble and willing to help the less fortunate, to developing an ego that affects everyone around him; even those close to him. His morals and loyalty are constantly being tested. 

Guy Pearce stars as Harrison Lee Van Buren, the wealthy industrialist who hires László to design and construct a grand project in tribute to his late mother. Despite getting off on the wrong foot with László at first, Harrison shows a lot of generosity. He is willing to help in any way possible, providing László with a room in his own home, meals, construction staff, and supplies, even going as far as having his lawyer try to bring László’s wife and niece to the United States. He also becomes a friend to László, even siding with him during conflicts with some of the construction staff, but despite his kindness, he sometimes lets his ego get in the way at the expense of others, including László. He’s very likable at the beginning, but audience opinions will slowly change as the movie goes on. 

Various other stars also appear in the film, including Felicity Jones as László’s wife, Erzsébet Tóth, Raffey Cassidy as Zsófia, László’s orphaned teenage niece, Joe Alwyn appears as Harry Lee Van Buren, Harrison’s entitled and pompous young son, Stacy Martin as Maggie Van Buren, Harrison’s daughter, Alessandro Nivola as Attila, László’s cousin, and Isaach de Bankolé as Gordon, László’s friend, with plenty of other great actors making up an incredible cast with diverse personalities and backgrounds.

It’s hard to go into detail about what they do without giving away the plot, which the film heavily relies on, but they all have their moments and places in an epic story about an immigrant man trying to rebuild his life. The entire cast all have fantastic chemistry with each other and audiences will be invested the whole way through. 

The film’s running time of 3 hours and 35 minutes does sound daunting, but it does a fantastic job of keeping you engaged from beginning to end. Thankfully, for those who see this movie in cinemas, there is a 15-minute intermission in the middle to allow audiences a bathroom break or buy more snacks before returning to enjoy the rest of the film. The first act is inspiring and empowering, showing an immigrant trying to achieve the American Dream without shying away from the struggles and challenges he has to face along the way. The second act, however, will have audiences divided, as things begin to take a bizarre turn.

There is some conflict between certain characters that could affect everyone’s relationship with each other which gets interesting to see where it goes, but other scenes will be shocking to a lot of viewers. Some scenes were expected, but others will feel like they came out of nowhere, feeling like they don’t make any sense since there was no build-up, but it’s also something that does happen in real life, as vile as it is, even if there were no signs leading up to the moment. It really changes the movie’s tone, and the audiences’ opinions on certain characters will be immediately flipped. Overall, it shows that not everyone is as they appear to be, as they take advantage of people’s trust, abuse their power, and assert dominance over others. 

When the film finally approaches the end, the film’s tone changes again. It finishes up with everything that happened since the previous scene being explained rather than shown. It’s good that the story provides a conclusion, but the way it’s done feels underwhelming. Other films have done this, but only after giving audiences everything they need and tying up any loose ends. It feels like it cheapens the experience, and unfortunately, The Brutalist is not one of the better examples. 

Being set during the 40s and 50s, the cinematography does an excellent job of creating the feeling of being in that time period. Everything from the set pieces to fashion, cars and more brings you back to olden-day America. Adding to this, the film was shot using the VistaVision process and cameras, which involves shooting horizontally on 35mm film stock. Mixing old and modern filming techniques creates something truly unique and nostalgic that you don’t see in many films in this day and age. The film’s score was composed by Daniel Blumberg, who created a soundtrack accurate to that time period. 

The Brutalist is the longest film released in cinemas in recent history, but it does an excellent job of keeping you engaged from beginning to end. Adrien Brody puts in a remarkable performance, showing the struggles of losing everything before rebuilding his life in a foreign country and having to face plenty of challenges along the way. The first act is inspiring, the second act takes a bizarre turn, and the ending could have been presented better, but it is a film well worth your time. All 3 hours and 35 minutes of it. Despite its faults, The Brutalist is a must-watch.

Written by: Sammy Hanson