The Brutalist ending explained: Lazlo and Harrison's fate in Adrian Brody's award-winning period drama, explained 

Brady Corbet's The Brutalist just won three Golden Globes and is inching closer to the Oscars. Besides the best picture win, Corbet won an award for his direction and Brody for his moving central performance. Corbet directed this film based on a screenplay he wrote with Mona Fastvold.

The Brutalist is an epic period drama about a Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor born in Hungary. It chronicles his life after he immigrated to the United States to achieve the American Dream. The film is titled after brutalism, the style of architecture the character practices. Besides Brody, the film stars Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, and Joe Alwyn in key roles.

Since the film is more than three hours long, it is being screened with an intermission. It becomes another award-winning long film after Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. While the film revolves around real historical events, it is not based on a book or a true story. The official IMDb synopsis for this film reads:

"When a visionary architect and his wife flee post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their legacy and witness the birth of modern United States, their lives are changed forever by a mysterious, wealthy client."

At the end of the film, Zsófia gives a moving speech during an exhibition of her uncle, László Tóth’s architectural work. She speaks about the painful inspiration behind László’s work and makes a powerful point about the connection between art and life.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Adrian Brody's award-winning period drama, The Brutalist. Reader discretion is advised.

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What is the story behind Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist?

Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist is divided into two chapters and ends with a poignant epilogue. The first part called ‘The Enigma of Arrival’ follows the Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor, László Tóth (Adrien Brody), who is forcibly separated from his wife and niece.

László immigrates to the United States and gets a job renovating the house of industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) from Harrison's son, Harry (Joe Alwyn). Harrison, displeased with the work, fires László. Later, László moves into a charity house, where he befriends Gordon (Isaach De Bankole) and becomes a heroin user.

Harrison reunites with László after the architectural community praises his renovation. He realizes László's history as a renowned architect and hires him for a grand project. He also helps László’s wife and niece move to America.

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What happens in the second part of The Brutalist?

The second part titled ‘The Hard Core of Beauty’ shows László reuniting with his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), and niece Zsófia (Raffey Cassidy) in 1953. Erzsébet is wheelchair-bound and Zsófia becomes mute due to suffering during the war.

László gets fired from Harrison’s construction site. So, he moves to New York with Erzsébet and Zsófia and starts working for an architecture firm. Zsófia overcomes her muteness and plans to move to Israel with her husband.

Around this time, Harrison r*pes László to claim his power over this talented architect. So, László falls into despair and behaves erratically. He injects Erzsébet with heroin to relieve her pain. She survives the overdose and asks him to move to Jerusalem with Zsófia’s family, to which he agrees.

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What happens to László and Harrison at the end of the film?

Erzsébet visits Harrison’s house and accuses him of being a r*pist. After this incident, Harrison likely disappears out of guilt and shame for his horrible actions.

Almost three decades later, Zsófia attends a retrospective of László’s architectural work. She notes that his traumatic experience during the Holocaust inspired his later work. During her speech, she says:

"No matter what the others try and sell you, it is the destination, not the journey."

Zsófia’s words reveal the close relationship between the artist’s work and their life experience. Despite the hardships László faced, what matters in the end is his artistic work.

While László becomes renowned for his creativity, Harrison leaves his normal life. The end reveals the shifted power dynamic between a wealthy businessman and a tortured artist. The former traumatized the latter upon realizing his wealth amounts to nothing compared to the latter’s imposing creative work.