In this line of work (writing about movies), hyperbole and festival hype can be a real problem. Sometimes, a film will play a festival to rapturous acclaim, only to then finally be released with a shrug. It's not even that these sorts of films end up being bad, it's just that it's very hard to live up to all that hype. I try very hard to tread carefully with these sorts of things -- I don't want to oversell something. But let me tell you this: when it comes to Brady Corbet's "The Brutalist," believe the hype. Corbet's latest movie premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where it was met with almost universal acclaim. It's played other festivals since then, and again and again, viewers are blown away. Having seen the film for myself, I can attest to its strengths: this movie is the real deal, folks. In fact, it might just be the best movie of 2024.

A sprawling epic that feels cut from the same cloth as films like "The Godfather" and "There Will Be Blood," "The Brutalist" is like the great American novel in movie form. Corbet, who also helmed "The Childhood of a Leader" and "Vox Lux," seems to specialize in a certain type of picture: the fictional biopic. He makes movies about characters who feel like real historical figures, even though they never existed. "The Childhood of a Leader" was about the youth of a (fictional) dictator. "Vox Lux" told the life story of a (fictional) pop star. And now with "The Brutalist," Corbet is tracking the life of a (fictional) legendary architect. Spanning decades, the film follows László Tóth (Adrien Brody), who survives the Holocaust and comes to America to start a new life. Through chance, or perhaps fate, László, an architect who specializes in brutalism, encounters Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), a millionaire who hires László to build a vast structure on a piece of land outside of Philadelphia.

Clocking in at almost 4 hours (with a 15 minute intermission), "The Brutalist" miraculously moves at lightning speed -- you'll never once feel bogged down by that runtime. Indeed, I became so engrossed with the story Corbet created (with co-writer Mona Fastvold) I actually found myself wishing the film was even longer. I wanted more. You can get your first good look at the movie by watching the trailer above.