The 2025 Golden Globe awards once again recognized the best in recent film. The Brutalist scored big during this year’s award ceremony, even winning the award for the Best Motion Picture. Interestingly enough, the film’s setting is fictionally based in Philadelphia and Bucks County.
The Brutalist: Budapest becomes Philly
Created by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist is an extraordinary historical drama that follows the odyssey of László Tóth, a Hungarian Jewish architect played by Adrien Brody. Having survived the Holocaust, László moves to post-war American in 1947 with hopes of reconstructing his career and life. Alongside him is his wife, Erzsébet, portrayed by Felicity Jones.
Specifically, László’s pursuit of the American Dream begins in mid-century Philadelphia and later shifts to Bucks County.
In the film, László meets with his cousin who runs furniture store in Philly and even finds himself shoveling coal in the city. As the film progresses, his path intersects with a wealthy industrialist, Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce), who owns a lush, massive estate in Doylestown and commissions László on a fateful, life-changing new architectural endeavor.
“The film always had to be set in the Northeast, because the mid-century designers were predominantly stationed there,” director and co-screenwriter Corbet told The Inquirer. “Philadelphia is just an important place for modern architecture, because of Louis Kahn, Paul Rudolph, you name it.” The region is “also a place where you could find these kind of incredible mansions and these wealthy families,” added co-writer, Fastvold.
Although the film was shot in Budapest, Hungary, Philadelphia was indeed inspiration for the setting.
From The Barnes Foundation to the “smoke stacks in Kensington”, historical Philly was a topic of research for bringing the film to life.
Best Motion Picture