The Brutalist was one of the best reviewed movies of 2024 (WTW’s The Brutalist review called it “a cinematic classic”) and won three Oscars, including Best Actor for Adrien Brody. But the movie’s three-and-a-half-hour runtime (with an intermission included) may have scared some people off from seeing it in movie theaters. Well, with The Brutalist now streaming on Max, that hopefully will be less of an issue.
Clocking in at a whopping three hours and 36 minutes, The Brutalist follows Laszlo Toth (Brody), a visionary architect who arrives in the United States after fleeing post-war Europe in 1947. He struggles with his new life until his talents become noticed by a wealthy benefactor (Guy Pearce) who handpicks him for a major project. However, personal and professional struggles impact Laszlo’s search for the American dream. Felicity Jones also stars in this movie directed by Brady Corbet, who also co-wrote the movie with Mona Fastvold.
In addition to its three Oscar wins (Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Score), The Brutalist earned 10 Oscar nominations in total, highlighted by a Best Picture nom and acting nominations for Jones and Pearce as well. Throw in the 93% “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and there’s little question that The Brutalist was one of the defining movies of 2024.
Yet it made just over $16 million at the US box office and just over $50 million globally. It’s a fair assumption that the running time was a factor in that. Heck, even some members of the Academy that votes on the Oscars reportedly didn’t watch The Brutalist in full because of its length, prompting a new rule.
While The Brutalist’s gorgeous visuals, epic scope and score made it something to behold on the big screen, and from my experience the runtime didn’t feel all that bad (the 15-minute intermission probably helped), I can understand some people’s apprehension of committing to that amount of time in a movie theater. Watching The Brutalist on streaming gives you more control over how you watch the movie.
Even with The Brutalist available via digital on-demand platforms, which it has been since February 18, you didn’t have that much control unless you bought the digital copy, as rentals typically require you to watch a movie within 24 hours of when you start them.
Well now, you can break up The Brutalist however you would like on Max. Watch it one go, break it up over a couple of nights, what have you.
To be clear, I don’t recommend this segmented viewing approach, especially if it’s your first time watching the movie. I’ll always advocate that a movie should be watched in its entirety in one go. But if The Brutalist runtime was what was keeping you from watching the movie that can now be mitigated.
So, again, The Brutalist is now streaming on Max (which in the near future will once again be known as HBO Max, following another rebrand). If you are not a subscriber or Max is not available where you live, then The Brutalist is available to buy or rent via digital on-demand.
Watch the trailer for The Brutalist right here:
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