Brady Corbet's The Brutalist, featuring Adrien Brody, tells the grand story of a talented architect's journey to America after the war. It's been one of the most acclaimed films this year, sweeping the Golden Globes 2025 and snagging the Best Motion Picture—Drama award. Plus, it includes something that’s been pretty rare in recent U.S. films: an intermission.

The Brutalist was shown in US theaters every 15 minutes

The Brutalist made its debut at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2024, and it quickly garnered rave reviews, earning a spot on the American Film Institute's list of the top ten films of the year. Clocking in at a hefty 3 hours and 35 minutes, the film also turned heads by reintroducing the concept of an intermission.

This film features a 15-minute break, similar to the intermissions often found in Indian theaters. Reports indicate that a countdown clock appears on the screen to signal the intermission, which takes place around the midpoint, splitting the film into “Part 1: The Enigma of Arrival” and “Part 2: The Hard Core of Beauty.” Notably, this intermission is counted as part of the film's total runtime.

Intermissions used to be a staple in lengthy Hollywood films. Classics like Gone with the Wind (1939), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and The Sound of Music (1965) included them to give viewers a chance to stretch and gear up for the second half. However, as films got shorter and multiplexes became more focused on scheduling, this tradition faded away in Western cinemas.

Theaters found that skipping intermissions was good for their wallets. When they scheduled longer movies with breaks, they could show fewer films each day, which hurt their box office earnings. Interestingly, three of the four highest-grossing films ever—Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Titanic—are all over three hours long and don’t have any intermissions.

In India, though, intermissions are still a key part of watching movies. Most Indian films, unless they’re on the shorter side, include a break, allowing viewers to grab some snacks or chat about the plot twists.

The Brutalist Overview

The Brutalist is a stunning period drama starring Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Emma Laird, Isaach de Bankolé, and Alessandro Nivola. The film took home the award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, with Adrien Brody snagging Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, Guy Pearce earning Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, and Brady Corbet being recognized as Best Director.

When discussing the intermission in his film, Brady Corbet shared with IndieWire on the red carpet at the 2024 Gotham Awards on December 2, "The intermission was always part of the script. It’s funny how much attention it’s gotten, more than we thought it would. Personally, I struggle to sit still for three-and-a-half hours, so I really needed it. It was a choice made for the audience."

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