Search - The Brutalist [Blu-ray] on Blu-ray

B.J. W. (analogkid01) from CHICAGO, IL
Reviewed on 7/5/2025...

"The Brutalist" is a 3.5-hour character study of Laszlo Toht, played by Adrian Brody (The Pianist, The Grand Budapest Hotel, etc.).

Laszlo Toht is:

- Hungarian
- Jewish
- a Holocaust survivor
- a trained architect
- a not-entirely-faithful husband
- an uncle
- a heroin addict

Now, if you think I'm going to write out a detailed synopsis of a 3.5-hour film, you're mistaken. The gist of the story is that Laszlo arrives in the United States, without his wife, and makes his way to his cousin Attila in Philadelphia. Attila owns a custom furniture store and can make use of Laszlo's design skills. To Laszlo's disappointment, Attila has changed his very Jewish last name to the more acceptable "Miller," and has converted to Catholicism. Better for business, you see.

Through a series of twists and turns, Laszlo comes under the employ of the wealthy Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce) who admires Laszlo's work and commissions him to design and build a "community center" in nearby Doylestown - one which must, of course, feature a Christian church. Through further twists and turns (and after a merciful 15-minute intermission baked into the film), Laszlo is joined by his wife Erzsebet (Felicity Jones) and their niece, Zsofia. Erzsebet suffers from osteoporosis due to famine, and Zsofia is mute due to trauma.

There are further twists and turns, obviously, and Laszlo's ego gets a little big for his own britches. But there are relatively few *consequences* to the change in his character. In the end he's honored at the 1980 Architecture Biennale in Venice, and...the film just ends, to surprisingly upbeat techno music.

Bottom line: I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. I found myself comparing it to There Will Be Blood, a film I adore - grand in scope but focused mainly on the back-and-forth power dynamic between the two main characters (Laszlo and Van Buren in this case). As a filmgoer I really don't focus too much on thematic elements and symbolism and whatnot, I just kick back and enjoy the film. There may very well be a lot more going on here than I personally realize, but the story just seemed kind of straightforward - and the one scene I would call a "surprise" came out of nowhere and was not adequately set up, in my opinion. I admire writer/director Brady Corbet's approach, but the story itself left me wanting.

Grade: straight B

(Oh, and "brutalism," if you don't already know, is a form of architecture - lots and lots of blocky concrete and sparse, strategically-placed windows. Can be interesting but I wouldn't want to live or work in a brutalist building.)