A Sincere Plea: Can Someone Who Liked the Second Half of the Brutalist Explain It To Me?

I went and saw the Brutalist. Absolutely loved the first half. This sprawling, ambitious story about the dangerous, hollow allure of the American Dream (especially for immigrants). Adrien Brody delivering a masterful performance as a brilliant but complicated immigrant architect. Sure, it was not the most subtle movie but I still found the interiority of the characters incredibly effective. Harrison's conflicting desires to help and control Laszlo were fascinating and felt so deeply human. It all built so wonderfully and when the intermission arrived, I was confident it would be my favorite movie of the year.

Then things rapidly fell apart for me. I actually liked the arrival of Erzsébet, as it was interesting to see this long-awaited reunion be a lot stranger and more dysfunctional than you might expect. But after that, there was a tonal shift that I really struggled with.

All the subtext suddenly became text in a way that felt so tonally to me. Harrison was no longer engaging in manipulative psychological games with Laszlo; he was taking cheap, lazy shots at his expense. Laszlo's descent into addiction became overly cliche and the conclusion of that addiction was so heavy-handed.

Without spoiling anything, the eventual disturbing climax of the relationship between Harrison and Laszlo felt like it was out of a soap opera compared to the psychosexual dynamics of the first half. And don't even get me started on Erzsébet storming into the Van Buren home because that entire sequence felt like an entirely different movie to me.

I walked out feeling so letdown but it appears most people do not agree with me, as the movie has gotten rave reviews.

I was hoping the discussion between Sean and Adam Nayman would address my issues but their discussion was more about the meta-narratives of the movie (which is fine, they are welcome to discuss whatever they want).

So if anyone would care to indulge me, I'd love to hear from someone who loved the second half of the Brutalist. I swear I am not here to fight or anything like that. I just genuinely do not understand it, as it felt like such a shift tonally. For me, the characters all became caricatures and this epic turned into a melodrama. But perhaps there is just a perspective I'm failing to grasp.