The Brutalist | 2024 | R | – 8.4.5

Why is “The Brutalist” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong sexual content, graphic nudity, rape, drug use and some language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several sex scenes with full female nudity, a rape scene between two men, an implied rape scene, a train explosion and derailment leading to hospitalizations, a few fight scenes, discussions of fleeing persecution, many arguments, scenes of homelessness and hunger, and at least 5 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A celebrated Hungarian-Jewish architect (Adrien Brody) emigrates to America, after surviving the Holocaust, having been separated from his wife (Felicity Jones) and niece. While he waits for them, he’s commissioned by a wealthy industrialist (Guy Pearce) to construct a community center, but antisemitism and design traditionalism obstruct his vision. Also with Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Isaach De Bankolé, Alessandro Nivola, Ariane Labed, Michael Epp, Emma Laird, Jonathan Hyde and Peter Polycarpou. Directed by Brady Corbet. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in Hungarian, Italian, Hebrew and Yiddish with English subtitles. [Running Time: 3:35]

The Brutalist SEX/NUDITY 8

 – A man finds another man in a passageway retching after injecting himself with heroin (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), and he reprimands him, unfastens his pants and rapes him (we do not see nudity) as the man struggles to resist him (we hear moaning).
► A husband and his wife have sex and we see her bare breasts, abdomen and pubic hair and his bare back and buttocks as he thrusts; then he performs oral sex on her. A silent era pornographic movie plays and we see a woman step onto a stool, lifting her skirt to reveal her bare legs and buttocks as a man watches; we then see the woman lying on a table as the man performs oral sex on her (we see her bare breasts, abdomen and pubic hair), and then a fully nude man kisses and lies on the floor with two women (we see his bare buttocks and back and the women’s breasts); the man thrusts into one woman (she wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage) while she kneels over the other woman. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage and raises the hem of her skirt as a man passes; we later see the man shirtless (his bare chest and abdomen to the hips are seen) and standing against a wall as the woman manually stimulates him (we see rhythmic movement as they discuss his apparent inability to become aroused); we see another couple standing and embracing in the background (the fully nude woman’s bare breast, side, partial buttocks and legs are seen).
► A woman kisses a man on the neck and ear and the man caresses her clothed breast. A wife tries to convince her husband to touch her as she manually stimulates him (we see rhythmic movement); she tells him that she has been yearning for him and that she knows what he did while they were apart and that she is not jealous. A husband appears to be manually stimulating his wife as she moans.
► A woman puts a man’s hands on her clothed hips and buttocks and they dance and kiss; he leaves. Men and women dance together in a jazz club. A man insists that another man should dance with his wife and he eventually does so after resisting. A husband and his wife dance together.
► A young woman adjusts her clothing and a man walks behind her (there is an implication of possible rape). A man makes a sexually suggestive remark about a young woman. We hear that a woman was disowned by her parents for having become pregnant out of wedlock.
► Nude men are shown in shower stalls and we see their bare backs, buttocks and legs. A woman sits in a bathtub (we see her bare shoulders and cleavage) and we see a young woman doing physical therapy on her legs. A man wears a tank T-shirt and boxer shorts in a few scenes and we see his bare shoulders and legs to the upper thighs. A young woman wears a bathing suit and wraps a towel across her legs when a man approaches (we see her bare shoulders, cleavage and legs to the hips). An adornment on a gondola shows a fully nude woman with bare breasts, abdomen, pubic region and legs. Several statues show male and female partial nudity (portions of breasts, buttocks, chests, abdomens and legs are visible).

The Brutalist VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – A man stumbles out of a building drunk and another man follows him, also stumbling; the second man finds the first man in a passageway retching after injecting himself with a drug (we hear retching and do not see goo) and the second man reprimands him, unfastens his pants and rapes him (we do not see nudity) as the man struggles to resist him.
► A huge dome of glass is hoisted into the air from a roof and when the men holding the ropes lose their grip, the dome crashes to the ground shattering (we see shards of glass later and no one seems to have been injured). A train pulling a very heavy load explodes and we see several cars derail; we hear that two men were injured and are in the hospital. Men climb to a very tall structure working on construction and one man is tied around the waist with a rope for safety.
► A woman accuses a man of raping her husband and another man pounds on the table at the insult; he rushes her, pushes her to the ground, throwing her walker out of reach, and drags her out of the room; the accused man disappears and we do not hear or see any details. A man punches another man in the nose and kicks him out of a club. Two men argue and one pushes the other when he insults him.
► A man enters his house yelling at people inside and ordering them to leave. A young woman with a bloodied lip is questioned harshly about her identity by a person off-screen and she quivers and cries. A man wakes another man with a nudge and accuses him of making a pass at his wife; then tells him to leave. A man with an injured nose says that he jumped from a railcar and hit a tree, breaking his nose. A man says that his mother was dying when he had an angry encounter with another man. Men argue over construction plans and materials in numerous scenes. A woman wakes up moaning in pain and asks for her medicine in a few scenes; in one scene a man injects her with a drug and rushes her to the hospital later when she is unresponsive and foaming from the mouth (we see goo). A man yells, throws items around an office and tips tables over. People argue about going back to Jerusalem.
► Many people crowded on a sailing ship arrive at Ellis Island and two men rejoice at the sight of the Statue of Liberty. A letter is read and states, “There is nothing here for us.” A voiceover states that Pennsylvania is a place of freedom of worship, and a leader in industry. A voiceover states that the UN supports the establishment of a Jewish State. People discuss the Displaced Persons Act and that it might allow a man’s wife and niece to be permitted to come to the US. We hear reports of the US having ICBM missiles.
► People stand in line outside a soup kitchen for food and many that are left with nothing are told that there is no more food. A man weeps when he is told that his wife and niece are still alive. A man tells a woman that a part of her face is not appealing. A young woman does not speak through the majority of the film. A man tells another man that pieces of furniture in his showroom are not very beautiful. A man complains of pounding in his head from a hangover. A woman explains that she suffers from osteoporosis caused by famine. People in religious services sing and pound on their chests in several scenes. A young man does pull-ups on construction equipment while others count loudly; another man pulls him down and yells, firing him for doing a dangerous thing and another man tells the first man to stop yelling and they argue and he fires that man as well.
► A wife asks her husband to help her to the toilet; he carries her and leaves her to finish; when he reenters the bathroom he finds her unconscious and foaming at the mouth (we see goo) and he carries her to the hospital where she recovers. A man urinates in a bathtub and we hear trickling.

The Brutalist LANGUAGE 5

 – About 5 F-words, 3 sexual references, 1 scatological term, 1 anatomical term, 11 mild obscenities, 2 derogatory terms for African-American people, 1 derogatory term for Italian people, name-calling (rapist, evil rapist, ill, idiot, urchin, beggar, fool, unbecoming, snake, little birdy, rude, fat-headed son, joke, this place is rotten, societal leech, Anarchist, irresponsible, bizarre, ugly, cruel, stupid, sick senile old dog, you look a mess, stubborn, beneath you, you poor man, irresponsible, selfish, old bastard, egotistic scoundrel, lady of the night, thick, lame, show-boating, lapdog, loafer, presumptuous, bag lady, unimaginative, cow, disturbing, frivolities, blunt, terrible, unbecoming, bat out of [mild obscenity deleted]), exclamations (stop this nonsense, hold your horses, thank goodness, shame on you), 6 religious profanities (GD), 8 religious exclamations (e.g. God bless you, I met God, oh my God, oh God, Christ, for Christ’s sake, Godforsaken). | profanity glossary |

The Brutalist SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man smokes a drug (it’s opium or heroin) in a shower stall and tells another man that it is for his facial injury, a man prepares a drug and injects himself in the arm, a man injects a woman with a drug to help with her pain and we see her unresponsive later (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), a woman takes prescribed medication for pain in a few scenes, a man asks another man if he has any drugs and he says no and that he is off drugs, and a man discusses having been given drugs for pain for his broken nose. People drink beer in numerous scenes, people drink champagne at a dinner table, people drink wine and beer with a meal, people drink in a jazz club, people drink brandy in a few scenes, a man talks about drinking a bottle of Madeira every night, a man holds a partial glass of beer and others drink champagne at a gathering, and a man says that he’s had too much to drink after making crass remarks about a young woman. A man smokes cigarettes in numerous scenes throughout the movie, people smoke in a jazz club, a man smokes a pipe, and men smoke cigars in a few scenes.

The Brutalist DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Wealth, manipulation, antisemitism, Zionism, racism, assumptions, immigration, anger, fear, famine, drug addiction, creativity, persecution, osteoporosis.

The Brutalist MESSAGE

 – Power combined with antisemitism leads to evil.