2 Movies Like The Brutalist (2024)

One thing about director Sean Baker’s movies is that everything is rooted in class. Anora might charm as a romance, delight as a comedy, and dazzle as a realistic look into sex work, but at the end of the day, it’s a movie about labor, specifically exploitation labor, making the movie as painfully realistic as it is hopelessly romantic. It’s like the anti-Pretty Woman in that way. There’s no doubt it will have the same cultural impact (it’s already starting heated discourses on the internet) and will be remembered for just as long. The heated performances, breathtaking cinematography, and subtly hilarious script are all bonuses to this gem of a film.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Aleksey Serebryakov, Darya Ekamasova, Ella Rubin, Ivy Wolk, Karren Karagulian, Lindsey Normington, Luna Sofía Miranda, Mark Eydelshteyn, Masha Zhak, Mickey O'Hagan, Mikey Madison, Ross Brodar, Vache Tovmasyan, Yura Borisov

Director: Sean Baker

Rating: R

The Apprentice is as much about Roy Cohn as it is about the titular mentee, a very green Donald Trump. It’s Cohn who teaches Trump the dirty tricks and the power moves, and it’s he who instills in him his everlasting entitlement. It’s also Cohn who arguably steals the show. As expected, Strong disappears into his character and is at once terrifying and pathetic, but always arresting. Stan is less effective as Trump, but his more subtle turn as the real estate mogul still works, especially when set against Cohn’s more hardened and vulnerable persona. The film is powered by these two; without them, it moves like any old tale about greed, power, and betrayal. It doesn’t shy away from Trump’s known grotesqueries, but it also could’ve benefited from leaning into them more, a la Wolf of Wall Street. As it stands, The Apprentice is familiar fare elevated by the engaging performances of two of Hollywood’s best-working character actors.

Genre: Drama, History

Actor: Ben Sullivan, Bruce Beaton, Catherine McNally, Charlie Carrick, Chloe Madison, Clare Coulter, Craig Burnatowski, Craig Warnock, Drew Catherine, Duane Keogh, Edie Inksetter, Emily Mitchell, Emma Elle Paterson, Frank Moore, Ian D. Clark, James Downing, Jason Blicker, Jeremy Strong, Joe Pingue, Luke Robinson, Maria Bakalova, Mark Rendall, Martin Donovan, Mary Krohnert, Michael Gordin Shore, Michael Hough, Mishka Thébaud, Moni Ogunsuyi, Patch Darragh, Peter Deiwick, Randy Thomas, Richard Nixon, Ron Lea, Ronald Reagan, Russell Yuen, Samantha Espie, Sebastian Stan, Stuart Hughes, Tom Barnett, Valerie O'Connor

Director: Ali Abbasi

Rating: R

2 Movies Like The Brutalist (2024)

1. Anora, 2024

2. The Apprentice, 2024