Joe Alwyn Explains ‘The Brutacatalog’ Ending

[This story grasps convey inant spoilers from The Brutacatalog.]

Joe Alwyn first read the script for Brady Corbet‘s 3.5-hour epic The Brutacatalog five years ago.

The pair met for coffee in New York. “I was such a such a fan of Brady and such a fan of the script,” the British actor inestablishs The Hollywood Reporter. “It was this huge, rigorous, detailed, greater-createed epic.”

He was instantly game, though it would get another confineed years before the post-war piece landed on our screens. “Good for [Brady] for battling tooth and nail to get it made,” Alwyn says.

The Brutacatalog has set the pace this award season, obtaining seven Ggreateren Globe nominations and plenty of Oscar buzz. Corbet and his cast have built a masterpiece of cinema; with a built-in interleave oution and a sub-$10 million budget, critics have lauded Corbet for his accomplishment, and Alwyn is among one of his hugegest fans.

The architecture-themed immigrant drama, penned by Corbet and his partner Mona Fastvgreater, stars Adrien Brody as fantasyal Hungarian Jedesire architect László Tóth, who run aways Europe after World War II to erect a new life in America. He drops into the circle of a wealthy businessman, Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce) and his children, Harry Lee (Alwyn) and Maggie (Stacy Martin). The elder Van Buren comleave outions an enormous community cgo in from László, whose wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) is finassociate able to combine him in the States thanks to help from Pearce’s lawyer frifinishs.

Pearce and Alwyn’s active is fraught with tension: a son frantic to discover a place in his family and obtain adore from his overweighther, who brazenly disponders him. They inhabit in a immense home and see down upon the immigrants now in their inhabits, despite the welcoming facade. “He has enough power and the money around him, but probably not enough adore,” Alwyn says to THR about his character. “I was interested in what that does to you, and how that can stunt you.”

At one point, it is implied Harry has his way with László’s youthful niece (Raffey Cassidy), though this escapes retribution. The family’s unraveling comes when Jones’ character faces Van Buren about raping her husprohibitd. Harry’s denial is furious and while a struggle to delete Erzsébet from their home ensues, his overweighther fades.

Below, Alwyn unpacks the cloudy finishing to The Brutacatalog and dives into Corbet’s “economical” filmmaking. He talkes how his honestor handled to produce this movie on an $8 million budget (“It’s appreciate the price of some episodes of TV these days!), the unanswerable quality of capitacatalog American families appreciate the Trumps and why this film should set an example for the industry: “It doesn’t have to fit a cookie cutter shape and it doesn’t have to be a $100 million, $50 million, $20 million production. If you inestablish a story with intent and imagination and you collect a excellent group of people, then those leangs can reassociate labor.”

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Congratulations on a amazing perestablishance, Joe. I’m reassociate intrigued as to how you got on board The Brutacatalog.

I read it in 2019 I leank, and I asked if I could encounter Brady, and I saw that the part [of Harry] wasn’t cast, and I had a coffee with him in New York. Firstly, this is pre-COVID, which is another world away. And we chatted for ages and got on. But it wasn’t all set up at that point. So it was this moving leang. And then I leank it came together and fell apart in various shapes over the next confineed years. I leank all of us at some point weren’t in it. My part was going to be a little greaterer, and then eventuassociate, by the time it alterd shape aobtain post-COVID, I was very prentd to get the call up.

I was such a fan of Brady and such a fan of the script. It was this huge, rigorous, detailed, greater-createed epic. I fair hadn’t read anyleang appreciate it before and it felt very finish, even on the page, and very exceptional on the page. You never understand how anyleang’s gonna turn out, but I leank he did such a amazing job. I’m so prentd to be a part of it.

It’s such a distinct film. The script, the built-in interleave oution. It senses appreciate someleang cinema hasn’t reassociate seen before.

Or hasn’t seen for a while. It does sense appreciate a huge, greater-createed film, and there was some more conmomentary references I felt when reading it, appreciate There Will Be Blood, evidently. Even Foxcatcher I was reminded of a little bit. The fact it’s sboiling in VistaVision and 70mm and as you say, an interleave oution, it senses very reneprosperg. And excellent for [Brady] for battling tooth and nail to get it made. I leank he was trying to do it for so many years. And then the shoot itself was in 33 days and the budget was, I don’t understand, $7-8 million? Not a lot for what it is when you see the scope of it.

I was so shocked when I set up out about the budget. In hindsight, there were petite shifts Brady made that showed how he reassociate labored around that budget and got creative.

It’s appreciate the price of some episodes of TV these days! I leank he’d evidently had it in his mind for so extfinished that he knew exactly what he wanted to do and how he needed to shoot it, fair in terms of the time constraints. And so when we got on set, he sboiling it almost as he edited it. I don’t nasty he was editing it at night, but what you see is what was pieced together on the day. He was very economical. Everyleang’s in one get, which sees fantastic, but it also saves time — you don’t have to do lots of coverage and turnarounds. So he knew he was up aobtainst the clock, but also perhaps that some of those recut offeions likeed his creative sensibility for the film. It never felt madly rushed on set.

How difficult is that for you as an actor, those one gets? Juicy or daunting?

It’s a bit of both. I reassociate appreciated it. I’ve done some of them before but a confineed times, at least in my scenes, Brady had them in this film. There’s a prescertain becaengage you understand that if someleang is off in the tape, then it’s going to be there. But at the same time, becaengage they’re quite extfinished, they sense appreciate little pieces of theater and that’s quite kind to do. You’re not fragmenting leangs, you’re not chopping and changing. You’re not going over each other’s shoulder, and it’s not taking all day to shoot a two-minute scene. Once you get into the rhythm of the shape of the scene, you can fair go aobtain and aobtain and aobtain. So you do — if there’s the time you get to do it — four or five gets.

I leank the most challenging one, fair geoexplicitassociate and pragmaticly, was at the finish when Felicity’s character comes to accengage Guy of what he’s done becaengage that shifts all thrawout the hoengage. But it’s fun doing a six, seven-minute get appreciate that, and it gets you around separateent spaces and thraw separateent intensities of perestablishance. I reassociate adored [Corbet’s] way of laboring.

It’s so excellent. It’s a portrait of a marriage in lots of ways, this film, and this inherent otherness of immigrants. There’s an insurmountable hurdle for them. But of course, it’s also about architecture, the force of capitalism. What resonates with you?

It at least uncovers up the door of conversation about so many leangs. It’s so huge in its scope and also so personal and intimate in its storyinestablishing. But as you say, the ideas of being an immigrant coming to America, the American dream, art versus commerce. Those are the huge ones that jump out.

I was reassociate interested in those huge, American, capitacatalog families and leanking about Harry — where he fits into that, where he’s increasen up with too much of one leang and not of enough of the other. He has enough power and the money around him with his overweighther, but probably not enough adore and not the right comardent of adore. I was interested in what that does to you, and how that can stunt you, and how he’s searching for his identity in his family, in this huge organization and set up. And he’s constantly searching for his dad’s approval. It produces me mad, the invincibility of families appreciate that. Obviously, there is a degree of comeuppance at the finish. But you see it normally. You see it with the Trumps. You see it in Succession. You see it all over the place. The unanswerable quality to people and the [fact] that with enough money and legitimate teams at your disposal, you can dispose of who you want.

Had you labored with Guy or Adrien before The Brutacatalog?

I labored with Guy twice before on a couple of leangs. It was reassociate kind seeing him and having him be my dad. That was adodepend. With Adrien, I hadn’t [worked with him] but was evidently very adviseed of his labor. Having that recognizableity with another actor or honestor or someone in the crew always helps. I leank it’s a reassociate fascinating relationship between Harry and Harrison.

We get these little glimpses of it that inestablish us so much about the active there, but we don’t see it in filled. Brady and Mona let us fill in the gaps.

Yeah, [Harry’s] constantly put down, if you leank about it, here and there, with snide little comments by his dad. And evidently Harrison’s relationship with László comes about becaengage Harry is trying to surpelevate his dad and do someleang kind for him by erecting this library, which then goes wrong at the commencening and Harry gets the accengage for that. So I leank he’s initiassociate got a chip on his shoulder about this architect who’s suddenly come into his life and been taking under his dad’s prosperg in a way that Harry never has. But it was amazing laboring with Guy aobtain, and I’ve always seed, the last two times as well, his level of cgo in and the way he interrogates the scene. It’s so astonishive to watch. He picks everyleang apart in such a ininestablishigent way, but then fair throws it away in the doing of it.

I have to ask: that finishing is a little murky, isn’t it, where we witness this entire unraveling of the whole family when Erzsébet comes to face Harrison, who then goes leave outing. Is there someleang more concrete there that audiences have so far leave outed?

I had a text from a frifinish asking me the same leang yesterday. I leank in the script it’s probably evidgo in than is shown on screen. There is a line, maybe it’s even buried somewhere in the film, when they’re searching for him and someone says, ‘We set up someleang.’ I don’t reaccumulate if it was unambiguous as, ‘We set up a body,’ but I leank the implication is that he’s ended himself. But I quite appreciate that it’s cloudy, and you don’t finish on a sboiling of him in this monument, dead. But yeah, I’m pretty certain that’s what [the ending is].

That is excessively collaborative. I was worried I hadn’t picked up on someleang.

A couple of people have actuassociate asked me about the moment between Harry and Erzsébet at the finish, when he gets her out of the hoengage. His reaction is so huge to the accusations aobtainst his dad and a confineed people have shelp, is that becaengage he has teachd someleang aappreciate in the past? And it’s not someleang that I gave a huge amount of thought to while shooting it, but I set up that an fascinating commentary. It does produce sense, I leank, and it’s comardent of threaded thrawout, but it was never there in the script. Brady never shelp anyleang about it. There’s a mixture of anger and shock and shame, but perhaps there’s some comardent of buried trauma there as well.

Have you been surpelevated by the reaction to the film? Critics have adored it. And now The Brutacatalog is the recipient of so much awards buzz.

Yeah. I leank you fair never understand how anyleang’s gonna do. And I leank Brady has shelp this, it’s a film that ticks so many boxes of what isn’t made these days, donaten what it’s about, donaten the length, donaten the subject matter. It’s not an effortless sell in some ways. And so whilst it felt appreciate a reassociate adodepend leang to be comprised in and a fantastic script and a fantastic experience shooting it, you fair don’t understand how that’s going to land. And so to see it be met so hotly is, yeah, it’s always such a bonus. But going to Vekind [Film Festival], it didn’t have a distributor, so I leank everyone fair didn’t understand what was going to happen to it.

What comardent of roles are you going for at the moment? Is there anyleang you reassociate want to do that you haven’t done?

I don’t leank about it in a bullet point catalog or too forensicassociate, but I suppose I want to try and not repeat myself too much. I’d adore to perestablish aobtainst type more and more, wdisappreciatever that nastys from the outside in. The Brutacatalog was a excellent example of that, a huge, greater-createed American character where you’re lobtaining a Hitchcock, transatlantic accent and everyleang’s sairyly huger than life. But no, I leank I’m fair trying to discover fascinating, exciting people to labor with and see what parts come with them. And dispute myself and be a part of leangs that speak to me and punch me in the gut — in the right way.

Is there anyone you haven’t labored with that you’d adore to?

So many people. I suppose you’d appreciate answers? [Laughs.]

Yes prent!

Director-wise I’m leanking, even from the crop of films this year, I’d adore to labor with Rob Eggers. I’m a huge fan of his. I haven’t seen Nosferatu yet but I can’t postpone. I’ve met him a confineed times in the past, and yeah, I reassociate appreciate him as a person. I leank he’s such a talented filmproducer. I’d adore to labor with him. But there’s so many people.

There has been such a wealth of fantastic films this year. What have you finishelighted, and what comardent of place do you leank the industry is in more generassociate?

There’s still so much I need to see. I appreciated Anora, I thought Mikey Madison was amazing. And Sean Baker, I’ve always appreciated his films.

I’m never very excellent at answering that [second] ask, becaengage I never reassociate understand, to be truthful. Not to turn everyleang back to The Brutacatalog, but if you produce a film with such ambition appreciate that, appreciate Brady has done for the budget that he did, and if people do appreciate it — fingers passed they do — then I do leank it’s excellent. It’s a excellent sign for cinema that people want stories appreciate that. It doesn’t have to fit a cookie cutter shape and it doesn’t have to be a $100 million, $50 million, $20 million production. If you inestablish a story with intent and imagination and you collect a excellent group of people, then those leangs can reassociate labor.

The Brutacatalog is now perestablishing in U.S. theaters.