The following article contains spoilers for The BrutalistThe Brutalist, a harrowing story about the brutality of the American Dream, is one of 2024’s most exciting features. The story follows protagonist László Tóth (Adrien Brody), a trained Jewish-Hungarian architect who departs for the United States after surviving a concentration camp. He moves to Philadelphia, meets the wealthy Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce) and his son Harris, and soon begins the architectural project of a lifetime. Director Brady Corbet’s latest work has been nominated for an impressive 10 nominations for the Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Brody for Best Actor.

However, the movie is not without criticism. The Brutalist has come under fire for its use of AI to supplement some of the Hungarian dialogue spoken by Brody. Some audiences have also questioned why The Brutalist is one of the longest theatrical films of the past few years. The movie’s over three-hour runtime calls to mind тιтles like Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon or The Irishman, but The Brutalist boasts a rare feature that most recent movies do not: an officially authorized intermission.

The Brutalist’s Runtime & Acts Explained

The Brutalist Includes Two Acts and an Epilogue

The Brutalist has an ending after the ending, as it is split into four parts: two acts, an intermission, and an epilogue. The first act, “Part I: The Enigma of Arrival,” is roughly an hour and 40 minutes and introduces us to László and the gray, haunting world of The Brutalist in 1947. The opening follows László’s harsh start in the United States, leading up to the Van Burens’ decision to commission a community center from him. The intermission runs after this act, and then the movie dives into its second, shorter act, “Part II: The Hard Core of Beauty.”

“Part II: The Hard Core of Beauty” picks up in 1953, continuing to follow László’s struggles with his work, drugs, and the Van Burens. The Brutalist‘s second act introduces László’s wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), who quickly becomes one of the movie’s most exciting characters. In Part Two, Harrison Van Buren decides to abandon his community center, firing all of his employees, which eventually leads László and his family to move to New York City. However, the architect soon finds himself back on site. The rest of the second act is a dark, disturbing dive into the Van Burens’ thirst for power and László’s struggle to complete his architectural masterpiece.

After the two official acts conclude, The Brutalist ends with a brief epilogue: “The First Architecture Biennale.” Whereas the first two acts focus on László and his professional and personal journey, the epilogue puts the attention on László’s niece, Zsófia (Ariane Labed). She describes László’s work, explaining how the Van Buren Community Center was designed to resemble a concentration camp, and how the construction served as a way for Làszló to process his trauma. As her aging uncle looks on, Zsófia concludes The Brutalist with a message he once told her: “No matter what the others try and sell you, it is the destination, not the journey.”

The Brutalist’s Long Runtime Is Needed To Show The Time It Took For László To Complete His Architectural Project

The Brutalist’s Intermission is Symbolic

Partway through the first act of The Brutalist, Làszló takes on the mᴀssive task of building a community center featuring a library, theater, gymnasium, and chapel for the wealthy Van Buren family. The creation begins to consume László as he dedicates his days to the project. The extensive construction continues throughout the intermission, hidden away from the eyes of the audience, but implied when Part Two jumps six years into the future.

The Brutalist features a montage of construction sH๏τs, showing the mᴀssive Van Buren center slowly coming together. The scene is beautiful, and displays not only the work of the fictional László, but Corbet’s strong directorial eye. The Van Buren center was not created overnight, but rather over several trying years. The following 15-minute reprieve serves as a means of representing how much time has pᴀssed, showing just how long László’s work has taken him.

Why Director Brady Corbet Included An Intermission In The Brutalist

Audiences Need a Break

The Brutalist‘s intermission arrives at the end of “Part I: The Enigma of Arrival,” which concludes about halfway through the 3-hour-and-35-minute movie at the 1 hour and 40-minute mark. The intermission lasts for 15 minutes, during which the screen first shows a pH๏τo of the Tóth family and then a countdown to zero, at which time The Brutalist resumes. During this intermission, piano music plays, which Corbet commissioned from John Tilbury for the Daniel Blumberg-helmed score.

Corbet also added the intermission to The Brutalist for audience members who needed a break while viewing the lengthy film. In an interview with IndieWire, he explained that he, too, enjoys a pause during a long watch. He remarked that he has a “hard time sitting still for three-and-a-half hours, so [he] needed it.” During the intermission, viewers are able to process what they’ve just seen.

Speaking with The Times, Corbet also explained that The Brutalist intermission’s specific length of 15 minutes was another intentional choice:

“It’s 15 minutes because that’s generally how long it takes for people to exit, use a restroom, smoke and return in time for part two. Hopefully, audiences will enjoy the communal experience.”

Corbet’s partner, director Mona Fastvold, provided her take on the intermission, too. She compared the experience of watching The Brutalist to that of binging a television series:

“You know, people sit at home and they watch eight to 16 hours of a limited series with little breaks in between, so if you apply that idea to this film, you’re just binging this movie with a little break in the middle. So, don’t be scared of the intermission.”

At some screenings of The Brutalist, the intermission began after minutes of nothing but a blank screen. These interruptions were due to the movie being shown on 35-millimeter or 70-millimeter film in some theaters—the film was sH๏τ using VistaVision, a form of 35-millimeter film—so projectionists had to physically remove and replace the reel, adding to The Brutalist‘s already lengthy runtime.

Sources: IndieWire, The Times