Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce star in the compelling new trailer for The Brutalist

A24 has unveiled the newest trailer for Brady Corbet’s critical darling, The Brutalist. The three-and-a-half-hour drama was shot on 70mm and it was made for under $10 million. It became a sensation at this year’s Venice Film Festival, garnering a 12-minute standing ovation and winning the Silver Lion, which goes to the film’s director. Now, we see more of the plot and the powerful performances by Adrian Brody and Guy Pearce. The Brutalist is a post-WWII epic that many critics are having a hard time finding the right films to compare it to.

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. Joining them is a cast that includes Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, with Isaach De Bankolé and Alessandro Nivola.

JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray loved the film and stressed that the 70mm should be experienced when he said in his review, “However, it also demands to be seen theatrically, as more than any movie since Oppenheimer, it’s been designed to be enjoyed as a cinematic event – and those belong on the big screen. Hopefully, audiences can see it how intended, as this is pretty close to being a masterpiece.”

Corbet explained how he made a historical epic on such a scope for under $10 million, “We’re not reinventing the wheel. The reality is that we would have been happier and more comfortable if we had more money.” He expounded, “It came at a great personal, physical expense at times because the number of sleepless nights in the last seven years. You have to have blind faith for getting this thing which is completely malnourished across the finish line.” One of Corbet’s advantages was to use the benefits of tax credits when shooting the film in Hungary.

The Brutalist is slated for a December 20 limited release.