10 Insane Recent Movie Moments That Came Out Of Nowhere
5. The Brutalist - Harrison Assaults Laszlo
Brady Corbett's stunning period drama The Brutalist is, as historical epics go, a fairly subdued movie in a number of ways. Telling the story of Hungarian-Jewish architect Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody) - who flees to the United States during WWII but discovers that it's not the promised land he was hoping for - this is a slow and patient movie that's short on big moments.
Rather, it focuses more on developing its characters and world, thus allowing viewers to get fully immersed in the film's fictional yet entirely believable, authentic narrative. Having said that, when the big moments come along, they hit devastatingly hard.
The picture's most shocking moment, and the scene which probably earned The Brutalist its 18 certificate in the UK, is the moment where wealthy American industrialist (the ever-brilliant and ever-underrated Guy Pearce, who finally got his first Oscar nomination for this movie) sexually assaults Toth in a sickening act of power, calling him a societal parasite.
It's a startling and horrifying moment that hammers home the film's deromanticized portrayal of the immigrant experience in an unforgettable manner. Having said this, it should be noted that The Brutalist handles this sensitive topic well, and the inclusion of sexual violence here didn't feel gratuitous.