_The Brutalist_ (Brady Corbet, * * * *)

Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian Jewish architect who studied the Brutalism movement at the Bauhaus, escapes the Holocaust and immigrates to the United States. There he encounters the brutalism of xenophobia/capitalism in the Van Burens (Pierce/Alwyn).

Need a break from cruel, exclusionary policy decisions? See one of the Best Picture nominees:

1) _The Brutalist_: pro-immigrant, anti-unchecked-Capitalism [in theaters]

2) _Emilia Perez_: pro-trans (including Karla Sofia Gascon, the first openly-trans actor nom. for an acting Oscar) [Netflix]

This National Book Award Finalist is not only brilliantly written in its form but mind-blowing in its content.

_All We Imagine as Light_ (Payal Capadia, India, * * * 1/2)

A soft, gentle film about letting go of the dark chains of society’s traditions and instead choosing the light of love.