A new trailer has arrived for The Brutalist, the three-and-a-half hour, buzz-worthy third feature from Brady Corbet (The Childhood of a Leader, Vox Lux, The Crowded Room). Corbet brings to life the struggles of a Hungarian-born Jewish architect navigating post-war America in this Venice Film Festival-winning drama. Take a look above.
Adrien Brody leads the cast as László Tóth, a visionary architect fleeing Europe’s chaos with dreams of starting over. Landing in Pennsylvania, László finds himself taken under the wing of a powerful industrialist, Harrison Lee Van Buren, played by Guy Pearce. But as the trailer hints, success comes with strings attached, and László’s life and marriage—his wife Erzsébet, played by Felicity Jones—begin to show the strain of new challenges.
The film’s aesthetic choices are striking, with the use of VistaVision lending an old-Hollywood grandeur to this post-war tale. And yet, the scale of The Brutalist belies its modest $6–8 million budget.
“The reality is that we would have been happier and more comfortable if we had more money,” said Corbet at a screening in October. “It came at a great personal, physical expense at times because the number of sleepless nights in the last seven years.” He added, “You have to have blind faith for getting this thing which is completely malnourished across the finish line.”
This one is certainly shaping up to be an awards darling. Apart from its Best Film win at the Venice Film Festival and various wins from critics groups, the picture has also been nominated for seven Golden Globes: Best Motion Picture (Drama), Best Director, acting nods for Brody, Pearce, and Jones, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score for composer Daniel Blumberg.
The Brutalist, also starring Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach De Bankolé, and Alessandro Nivola, is set for a US release on December 20 release via A24 and an Australian release on January 23 via Universal Pictures.
