It is a costly affair. The American Dream is a pact with the devil, and, of course, opportunity comes at a price. Time and time again, sprawling American epics from The Godfather (1972) to There Will Be Blood (2007) have nailed in the same sinister motifs, so The Brutalist isn’t necessarily digging up earth-shattering revelations. That said, director Brady Corbet probes the foundation of the dream, particularly how this idea is concretized in postwar America. And what’s truly shocking about The Brutalist is not that it teaches us something new, but that it presents an America we recognize—hollowed out yet standing on the same eroded foundations.
Its three-and-a-half-hour runtime is dedicated to an atmospheric exploration of American life—family, legacy, success, you name it—rather than anything concise. It does, however, set the tone immediately, commencing with a disorienting, upside-down shot of Lady Liberty as Adrien Brody’s László Tóth arrives in the United States from the ruins of WWII.
A Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor, Tóth arrives destitute. He is only welcomed by his cousin, Attila (Alessandro Nivola)—who had Americanized not just his name but his business and his principles. Given a second chance, Tóth is helped by Attila to secure a job redesigning the library of Harrison Van Buren, a wealthy plutocrat played with a nefarious edge by Guy Pearce.
Van Buren is initially furious at the two men hired by his foolish son, Harry (Joe Alwyn). However, after researching Tóth’s esteemed European background, he has a change of heart. Van Buren proposes Tóth’s deal with the devil: Tóth will design a monumental community center featuring a church, library, gymnasium, and auditorium atop a hill in Pennsylvania.
This colossus costs Tóth everything as he battles for his art form against every odd: a volatile capitalist, drug addiction, and the uphill revival of his legacy. Like any quintessential American epic, the relentless pursuit comes at a steep cost to family, unraveling as his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), and orphaned niece, Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy), finally set foot in America.
The Brutalist is Corbet’s colossus: it’s a massive American epic that damns the ground we stand on. Corbet achieves this without leaning too heavily on his predecessors, instead forging a myth from the bedrock of this country’s brutal psyche. 215 min.
Music Box Theatre
Reader Recommends: FILM & TV
Our critics review the best on the big and small screens and in the media.
The Girl With the Needle tells a chair-gripping, toe-curling story.
A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter falls delightfully in line with other Christmas specials in its wake.
Nickel Boys, an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel, is a cinematic revolution.
The Fire Inside is a dynamic and artistic telling of the story of real-life boxing legend Claressa “T-Rex” Shields.
Skeleton Crew provides a new angle on the Star Wars cinematic universe—one that puts childhood adventure front and center.
Sweethearts is a rom-com that unexpectedly goes its own way.