Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones star in the first trailer for director Brady Corbet's acclaimed historical drama The brutalist.
A24 releases the film on December 20 following its premiere over the summer at the Venice Film Festival. Rounding out the cast are Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé and Alessandro Nivola.
The brutalist focuses on László Tóth (Brody), a Jewish architect who emigrates to the United States with his wife Erzsébet (Jones) after World War II. After their arrival, Tóth finds a mysterious and wealthy client (Pearce), who plays a key role in the architect's journey.
“Welcome to America,” Brody says in the trailer after a montage of moments from his character's life.
Corbet (Vox Lux) directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mona Fastvold. Nick Gordon, DJ Gugenheim, Andrew Lauren, Trevor Matthews, Andrew Morrison and Brian Young are the producers.
The brutalist debuted on September 1 in Venice, with Corbet winning the festival's award for best director. During an interview at the time, the director recounted The Hollywood journalist why he decided to focus the film on the brutalist architectural movement.
“Brutalist architecture is representative of something that people don't understand and want to demolish and tear away,” Corbet said. “So, the film is about how post-war psychology shaped post-war architecture.”
In his review for THRchief film critic David Rooney wrote it The brutalist'“The expansive story of a brilliant Bauhaus-trained Hungarian Jewish architect who survives World War II and starts a new life in Pennsylvania is a provocative original.”
He also noted, “Brody pours into the character with bristling intelligence and inner fire, holding nothing back as he viscerally conveys both exultant highs and deep sorrows.”