In The Brutalist, Guy Pearce portrays Harrison Lee Van Buren, a wealthy industrialist who commissions architect Laszlo Toth. to build a community center. Their relationship deteriorates after Van Buren assaults Toth, leading to Toth's wife, Erzsebet, confronting Van Buren.
Following this, Van Buren mysteriously disappears, and his fate remains unresolved. The film leaves his disappearance open-ended, allowing viewers to interpret his fate.
Pearce has expressed that the ambiguity of his character's fate was intentional, emphasizing the importance of audience interpretation. He noted that the film doesn't reveal what happened to Van Buren, leaving it to the audience's imagination
