A24’s award-winning drama The Brutalist was released on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on March 25, 2025, following an earlier digital premiere in February. The film was nominated for a total of ten Oscars and won three including Best Cinematography (Lol Crawley), Best Original Score (Daniel Blumberg), and Best Lead Actor (Adrien Brody).
Suffice to say we were very excited about the home media release of The Brutalist from A24 who has delivered some quality 4k releases such as Civil War, Past Lives, and Everything Everywhere All At Once, just to name a few. The studio/distributor often packages films in limited editions with photo books and postcards, providing more value with the purchase of movies on physical media instead of digital.
The Brutalist on Blu-ray and 4k Blu-ray is no exception, housed in a nicely-designed DigiPack that includes photo postcards of architectural renderings by Ákos Sógor along with the disc in cardboard/plastic design. Everything is housed in a sturdy slipcover that can be a real pain to unpack (hint, the side that opens is not the spine with the barcode).
For the release of The Brutalist on 4k Blu-ray Disc the original 35mm negatives in Vistavision format were scanned in 6K resolution. In Vistavision, the film is shot horizontally on 35mm film strips, resulting in a higher-quality image because of the larger image capture area on celluloid. It doesn’t get much better for a film transfer destined for a home theater environment!
The aspect ratio of The Brutalist is 1.66:1 in a 16×9 frame. That means on a typical TV there will be skinny black bars on the right and left, resulting in a slightly more square format than most content these days that is produced for 16×9. (See the example image above in 16×9 frame.)
Now, this release does not contain HDR, which was an interesting decision not to add it (by either the director, cinematographer, colorist, or overall consensus). HDR can increase the color depth to 10 bits vs. the 8-bit depth capacity of SDR. However, given this was shot on real film, which does not have native HDR, it makes sense to leave the image in its natural form. Nevertheless, there is rich color in the 8-bit video (Rec. 709) utilizing YCbCr 4:2:0 subsampling (which is only half as good as 4:2:2).
As far as bit rates, the video averaged between 50 and 60 Mbps with a few scenes playing a little bit lower around 50 Mbps, and on the higher end a noticeable video peak of 72 Mbps. At those bitrates, the 215-minute film plus extras was able to fit on one BD-100. Otherwise, a higher variable bitrate would have resulted in two BD-66 discs, which could have been split by the Intermission.
The 4k presentation showcases the gorgeous cinematography by Lol Crawley (Best Cinematography winner) with a wonderful color palette that really impresses especially in the daytime scenes at the architecture site where the Van Buren Institute is being built. We’re scoring the video quality 5/5 for its superb sharpness and good contrast ratio that retains detail in bright and shadow areas.
As far as sound, the triumphant music composition by Daniel Blumberg is unforgettable as the backdrop for this fictitious story with historical elements. The Oscar-winning score takes listeners on a journey through dark and light moments (synonymous with László’s own story), and at times seems larger than the picture itself. The score for The Brutalist is just brilliant and reason enough to watch this film multiple times.
The dialogue in The Brutalist is front and center and almost always discernible even in scenes with large crowds or heavy ambient noise. There are some immersive effects that take advantage of multiple speakers and rear/side placements such as the office scene when László gets hired back on the Van Buren Institute. The echoes of the mountains in the Italian town of Carrara create a haunting audio environment with subtle low frequencies. The strings and piano notes of the score often fill the audio space for an immersive musical experience.
In terms of audio bit rates, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 played at an average 3.8 Mbps. We’re score the audio for The Brutalist 5/5 because even though the lacks Dolby Atmos or DTS:X the music score more than makes up for it!
Bonus features included with the US editions of The Brutalist are provided on the 4k Blu-ray or HD Blu-ray editions. Those include audio commentary with Director of Photography Lol Crawley, and a 25-minute featurette “The Architects of The Brutalist.” English SDH and Spanish subtitles are provided for the main feature.
Also Read: The Brutalist 4k Blu-ray Details, Disc Specs & Editions
