The Latest “Masterpiece” Movie is Being Branded the “Next Godfather”

The first trailer for a nearly four-hour movie that has been called a “masterpiece” similar to The Godfather has been released.

The film received a thunderous 13-minute standing ovation, one of the longest of this year’s Venice Film Festival, when it debuted in September alongside the gritty Jude Law movie The Order and a biopic on soprano Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie.

The film, which was directed by Brady Corbet and spans thirty years, follows the life of László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a Jewish architect of Hungarian descent who survived the Holocaust and immigrated to the United States with his wife (Felicity Jones). They meets the enigmatic Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), who transforms his life.

The 215-minute epic, which was shot in 70mm to “reflect the widescreen experiences of its 1950s setting,” took seven years to make and features a 15-minute interval. Corbet’s other credits include the cult films Vox Lux and The Childhood of a Leader. He and Mona Fastvold, the director of The World to Come, co-wrote the movie.

Critics were unable to express enough admiration for the film after its initial showing, despite it receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews and being likened to some of the most celebrated Hollywood productions ever.

Journalist Diego Andaluz referred to the movie as “a visionary, era-defining American epic,” explaining it was “on the level” of Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, and Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather. “A staggering cinematic accomplishment and one that feels so rarely seen in the modern age.”explained Yasmin Kandil, senior critic for Discussing Film.

Critic Ben Rolph called The Brutalist “a near-masterpiece that transcends modern cinema”, adding: “The opening scene alone is out-of-this-world great, sweeping you into the troubled yet brilliant mind of Tóth László.”

Stu Talks host Stu Wilson corroborated Rolph’s comment on the opening scene, calling it “one of the most immediately staggering things I’ve ever seen in a cinema”. He described the film as “monumental”, with Beyond Fest adding: “The Brutalist is a film that transcends and will endure, it’s the one that warrants the term ‘masterpiece.’”

In addition to writing and directing, Corbet has acted in films such as Michael Haneke’s version of Funny Games, Melancholia, and Thirteen.

The Brutalist, starring Joe Alwyn, Stacy Martin, and Alessando Nivola, will be released on December 20 in the United States and January 25 in the United Kingdom.