Kieran, you're a good bloke and I respect you, your writing, and your knowledge of film. However, I confess I am somewhat alarmed by what appears (I could be wrong) to be a rather unfairly anti-Israel stance here.
Please bear with me as there is a lot I could say on this subject. I'm going to try very hard indeed to stay on topic, because I do not want to start an angry interaction of any kind, and I know this subject is a raw nerve to many, and an extremely complicated situation requiring a proper understanding of history, not just last the last couple of years, or the glib propaganda perpetuated in much of the media (on both sides).
Firstly, a brief point of order: Brady Corbet first started work on The Brutalist in 2018, before shooting started (after many postponements, some of them Covid related) in March of 2023, and wrapping in May of that same year. That's several months before Hamas terrorists crossed the border into Israel, and raped, tortured, and murdered about 1,000 Israelis, taking over 200 more hostage. In that context, it's hardly fair to blame Brady Corbet regarding the timing.
Secondly, as you rightly point out, this film hardly shoves Zionism down anyone's throat. But it is a valid subject for this film. Also, what is Zionism? Put simply, it is the belief that the Jewish people deserve to live in their ancestral homeland and have a country of their own (the film shows how Jewish people face prejudice wherever they go to a greater or lesser extent, including in the US). That belief was shared by the United Nations in 1948, hence the birth of the modern state of Israel. As a Jewish person myself, I absolutely one hundred percent support the right of Israel to exist, and I sincerely hope you do too.
What Zionism has since become associated with is another matter (ie expansionism and so forth). I should tell you that I have visited Israel more times than I can remember. I have several friends there, including my best friend, and I personally know people whose lives have been devastated by what happened when Hamas attacked. However, many people in Israel, millions in fact, do not support Netanyahu. Indeed, he has been in power far too long, and before this war started, he was being investigated for corruption. He also started acting like a dictator by attempting to overthrown the Israeli Supreme Court (an act that led to millions protesting, and even IDF soldiers going on strike). During Covid, he introduced an alarming, almost fascist two-tier system grossly persecuting those who refused to be vaccinated. He is not someone who I, or indeed many Israelis, approve of. Unfortunately, Israeli politics has moved increasingly to the right over the last three decades - something I've observed with hair-clutching frustration - because of the proliferation of loonies like Hamas and their genocidal charter. Yes, the genocide shoe is well and truly on the other foot if you ask me, because they openly want the eradication of Israel and the Jewish people, not a two-state solution. That plays right into Netanyahu's hand, and the hand of the right wing members of his coalition.
To be clear: I do not approve of what much of Israel's military have done. They had a right to self-defence, but they have done many unwise things resulting in tragedy, and my heart breaks at the appalling loss of life. However, to my mind, what they have done does not fit the term "genocide" by any sensible definition of the word. It is not their intent, stated or otherwise, to wipe out all the Palestinians. If it were, they could have achieved that easily and quickly.
Regardless of such definitions, the truth is a two-state solution will only be possible without terrorists like Hamas brainwashing their children into what is essentially a religious death cult (if you don't believe me, take a look at what is broadcast on Palestinian television - it is truly bone-chilling). It will also be impossible with people like Netanyahu in charge. He needs to go too. Without both of those entities involved (and let's face it, Hamas are pawns of the Iranian regime in any case, which is another can of worms), perhaps there is yet a chance for the two-state solution that is the only common sense answer at this point.
Of course, I do accept that Trump isn't necessarily helping matters on that front, but I do (reluctantly) give him credit for getting the current ceasefire over the line. Let's pray it holds. Let's pray for an end to all the violence, from Hamas and the IDF. And let's pray for peaceful co-existence.
As for The Brutalist, I rather enjoyed it, I think a lot more than you did (with reservations, of course). Not sure if you saw my review. :)