Academy voters struggle to finish The Brutalist ahead of Oscars nominations announcement, thanks to 3.5 hour runtime
The Brutalist stars Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce and Joe Alwyn. The over three hour-long film is touted to be a strong contender for Best Picture.
As the countdown to the announcement of the Oscars nominations comes close, the predictions of which title has the chance to get in are turning up. The Academy recently announced that due to the devastation caused by the Los Angeles fires, they will extend voting to January 17, and move nominations announcement to January 23. Now a report by Variety has shared inside details about the films which might dominate at the announcement, with a pointed insight on The Brutalist. (Also read: The Brutalist director pays tribute to Jeff Baena in his acceptance speech at Golden Globes 2025: ‘Tonight my heart is…’)
The issue with The Brutalist
Brady Corbet's The Brutalist is a strong contender and one of the most acclaimed films of the year. Starring Adrien Brody in the lead, it is an epic tale of a brilliant architect's post-war journey to America. The film has a sprawling runtime of 3 hours and 35 minutes. The film includes a 15-minute interval, reminiscent of the intermissions commonly seen in Indian cinemas. The Variety report states that some Academy voters have admitted that they “didn’t get to it” or “didn’t finish it” because of the runtime.
More details
The Brutalist had a strong showing at the Golden Globe Awards 2025, where it not only won Best Director for Brady and Best Actor for Adrien, but also took home the big award of the night – Best Motion Picture - Drama. The film also scored an impressive nine nominations at the BAFTAs.
The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September last year, where it opened to universally positive reviews and ultimately won the Best Director award. “The Brutalist chronicles the journey of Hungarian-born Jewish architect, László Tóth, who emigrates to the United States of America in 1947. Initially forced to toil in poverty, he soon wins a contract that will change the course of the next 30 years of his life,” reads the official synopsis of the film.
