Director: Brady Corbet
Starring: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé, Alessandro Nivola
Certificate: 18
Run Time: 215 mins

The Brutalist is an epic period drama directed by Brady Corbet, who last made the excellent Vox Lux. Undeniably more ambitious in scope, Corbet’s latest spans over thirty years and a three and a half hour run time. Adrien Brody plays László Tóth, a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor and Bauhaus-trained architect who immigrates to America. He stays with his cousin, Attila (Alessandro Nivola) and wife Audrey (Emma Laird), while László’s wife, Erszébet (Felicity Jones) stays behind in Europe due to her weak health. László is soon commissioned to renovate the library of the wealthy Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) at the behest of his son, Harry (Joe Alwyn) as he tries to integrate into American culture.

The Brutalist has received quite the critical acclaim and it’s up for ten Oscars – does it live up to the hype? It does. The film isn’t perfect but The Brutalist is directed with real bravura and has a lot to say – although it’s about Tóth’s architectural career on the surface, there are plenty of parallels with the idea of how someone suffers for their art and how they are the person remembered rather than the entity throwing money at a project. Of course, that means there’s themes of compromise and interference and although its last 30 minutes may seem to take a different, seemingly incomprehensible tone, I found it very thought-provoking.

Adrien Brody turns in a career-best performance as the suffering artist, nailing the Slavic accent and mannerisms – he’s fully deserving of his Best Actor nomination and he’s the clear winner. Guy Pearce is also a standout as the slimy financier in a very multi-faceted performance. Pearce is no stranger to playing villains – his deliciously evil turn in Lawless is evidence of that – but this is a complex individual with all the qualities of someone who has too much money. The smaller, supporting roles that stand out the most beyond Brody and Pearce are Raffey Cassidy as Tóth’s niece , Alessandro Nivola, Isaach de Bankolé as a single father he befriends and Jonathan Hyde as one of Harrison’s builders.

I was less taken with Felicity Jones’ turn as Erszébet, who doesn’t feel as authentic as Brody or Pearce. But I don’t think all of the blame should be placed on Jones because her relationship with László is underdeveloped and in my opinion, that’s the film’s main flaw. That said, Jones absolutely nails her final scene in a shouty and intense feud which reminded me of Daniel Day-Lewis’ “I drink your milkshake” speech in There Will Be Blood. 

Daniel Blumberg’s prickly score is wonderful, lending the film a simmering intensity and he crafts many memorable themes that develop throughout the film. The Brutalist is also beautifully shot by Lol Crawley, resurrecting the VistaVision process to authentically portray the period. It’s staggering how good the film looks, considering its modest $9.6 million budget and bearing in mind its epic run time. I also loved the intended intermission – the two halves of the film feel distinct and it comes in a natural place. It really helped create an authenticity to this type of epic filmmaking that once soared and isn’t made anymore.

While not perfect, I loved The Brutalist and it’s fully deserving of its Awards praise. It’s teeming with brilliant performances, a sharp script and endlessly striking visuals. Granted, some elements are underdeveloped but this is a film that earns its lengthy runtime and I was engrossed from start to finish. I can’t wait to see what Brady Corbet does next.