Doylestown-set ‘Brutalist’ wins big at 2025 Golden Globes
Other Philly favorites 'Abbott Elementary,' Quinta Brunson, Colman Domingo, and Kali Reis were nominated but didn't take home any awards.
Tonight the Golden Globes celebrated the buzziest films and shows of 2024 — and one with ties to the Philadelphia area won big across several categories.
The Brutalist, a sweeping story about a Holocaust survivor and architect who builds a community center in Doylestown, won three awards — best motion picture for drama, best director for a motion picture for Brady Corbet, and best performance by a male actor in a motion picture (drama) for Adrien Brody.
During a night of teary speeches, Brody choked up onstage when talking about his parents in the audience. His character László Tóth immigrates to Philadelphia from Hungary, much like the actor’s mother, Sylvia Plachy, who made a similar move from Hungary to Queens, New York, where Brody was raised.
“The character’s journey is very reminiscent of my mother’s and my ancestral journey of fleeing the horrors of war and coming to this great country, and I owe so much to my mother and my grandparents for their sacrifice,” said Brody. “Although I do not know fully how to express all of the challenges that you have faced and experienced, and the many people who have struggled immigrating to this country, I hope that this work stands to lift you up a bit, and to give you a voice.”
Accepting the Globe for best director, Corbet thanked his family and called out Ada, his daughter with wife and co-screenwriter Mona Fastvold. Corbet said she “looks so stunning in that dress of hers tonight that I’m thinking this fiasco that I’ve gotten us all into may have very well been worth it. I love you so much, Ada James.”
At the end of the night, Brody accompanied Corbet, Fastvold, and their daughter onstage as they accepted the award for best motion picture. “I’m incredibly moved, I prepared one speech, not two,” said Corbet, with his daughter beside him holding the Globe. “I have to thank everyone up here who, over and over again, bet on this film that kept falling apart, and they stuck with it through thick and thin, really.”
The film lost in four categories. Guy Pearce, who plays a menacing industrialist was nominated for best performance by an actor in a supporting role in any motion picture. He lost to Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain. Felicity Jones, who played Tóth’s wife, lost the award for best performance by a female actor in a supporting role in any motion picture to Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez, the quirky musical that picked up several wins, including best motion picture (musical or comedy).
The Brutalist had also been nominated for best original score for Daniel Blumberg’s soaring music and best screenplay for a film.The awards went to Challengers, the Zendaya-fueled tennis drama, and Conclave, the gossipy Vatican drama, respectively.
Set in Doylestown and filmed in various locations across Hungary, The Brutalist will release in local theaters on Jan. 10.
Other Philadelphia favorites, however, did not take home Globes. Beloved school-set mockumentary series Abbott Elementary was nominated for two categories, best television series (musical or comedy) and best performance by a female actor in a television series (musical or comedy) recognizing West Philly-raised star and showrunner Quinta Brunson. Unlike last year, when The Bear dominated, Abbott was beat out by Hacks in both categories.
Brody’s win resulted in a loss for another West Philly-raised actor, Colman Domingo, who was in the best actor race for his tender and captivating turn playing Divine G, an incarcerated man who founded a life-changing theater program, in Sing Sing. The heart-wrenching film will be rereleased in theaters later this month.
Domingo was also nominated in 2024 for playing West Chester-raised civil rights legend Bayard Rustin in Rustin; he lost in that category to Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy.
Trophy or not, Domingo was still a champion on the red carpet, where he stunned with an oversize bow tie, polka dot shirt, and black suit from Valentino. His fingers glittered with rings by Boucheron. The actor, who most recently appeared in the Netflix conspiracy thriller series The Madness, was just named one of the New York Times’ most stylish people of 2024. He will also serve as a cochair for the 2025 Met Gala later this year; the event will focus on the history of men’s fashion.
Brunson and her fellow Abbott Elementary cast mates also showed up in style. Brunson wore a sparkly brown gown by Roberto Cavalli, while Janelle James, who plays her fictional boss, Ava Coleman, donned a strapless black velvet dress with elegant long black gloves. Sheryl Lee Ralph, the Dreamgirls legend who plays teacher Barbara Howard, rocked a plunging long-sleeved maroon gown, while Tyler James Williams, the actor behind Brunson’s love interest, Gregory, sported a grey pin-striped Dolce & Gabbana suit — with no shirt underneath.
South Philly-based professional boxer Kali Reis was also recognized at the Globes, earning a nod for her role in the chilling mystery True Detective: Night Country. She was nominated for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for playing the indefatigable Alaska State Trooper Evangeline Navarro; the award went to Jessica Gunning for Baby Reindeer. Reis was one of several women in sharp suits on the red carpet, wearing a custom design by Jovana Louis with flashy cuffs.
True Detective was nominated in two additional categories; it lost for best limited series but star Jodie Foster won the Globe for best performance by an actress in a limited series.