The Brutalist gets first trailer, teasing “monumental” post-WWII epic

As it stands, the Best Picture race is wide open, with no clear winner at the head of the pack. But one that will no doubt be vying for a number of categories is The Brutalist, a post-WWII epic that many critics are having a hard time finding the right films to compare it to. So as we wait for its prime awards season release on December 20th, A24 has unveiled the first teaser for The Brutalist.

A slow burn that rests on smart pacing, a tense score and only a mere idea of what to expect, this trailer for The Brutalist might be the most fitting way to tease the “monumental” picture.

Here is the official plot of The Brutalist: “Escaping post-war Europe, visionary architect László Toth arrives in America to rebuild his life, his work, and his marriage to his wife Erzsébet after being forced apart during wartime by shifting borders and regimes. On his own in a strange new country, László settles in Pennsylvania, where the wealthy and prominent industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren recognizes his talent for building. But power and legacy come at a heavy cost…” 

The Brutalist stars Adrien Brody as Tóth, marking what looks to be just the sort of return to glory that has too-long eluded him since winning Best Actor back in 2003 for The Pianist, another WWII-set film. Felicity Jones – who earned an Oscar nod for The Theory of Everything – plays his wife, while Guy Pearce is the aforementioned industrialist.

Running just over three and a half hours, The Brutalist may not seem like the film to rush out and see on opening night, but by pretty much all accounts – it holds a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and our own Chris Bumbray gave a 9/10 out of the Toronto International Film Festival – this is one of the essential films of 2024. Maybe, too, Oppenheimer helped open the gates for those who might have been skeptical of seeing a film with such a lengthy runtime on the big screen. Heck, make it a double feature with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 if that’s what gets you to the cinema.

What do you think of the teaser for The Brutalist? Will you be seeing it when it opens in December?