TL;DR – A fascinating film that inevitably feels flawed in its very focus.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

Nuremberg Review Introduction –

Today, in the last film we will be looking at for 2025, we have come across one that has given me pause as to how conflicted I am towards it. On the surface, we have a film that could not be timelier as a reminder to a lot of people out there that their time will come and “I was only following orders” will not stand. But it also feels like a film that found the wrong anchor to focus on, and that is an issue for me.  

So, to set the scene, Adolf Hitler is dead. It is in the closing days of WW2 and Nazi Germany is falling apart. The remaining members of the regime are working out whether to run, hide, turn themselves in, or follow Hitler. On May 7^th, 1945, the last day of the war in Europe, Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) surrendered himself in Austria. In Bad Mondorf, Luxembourg, Dr Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) and his translator, Sgt. Howie Triest (Leo Woodall) had been tasked with a secret mission to look after the mental health of the German regime as they prepared to put them on trial. Kelley sees this as an excellent money-making exercise, but is he truly prepared to investigate the awfully benign face of evil incarnate?

The Strengths

One of the strengths of this film is just how solid a production it is. The cast, the score, the cinematography, the set design, the costuming, and well, just about everything is as good as you can get it. There is a classic feel to this film, like I have seen its calibre before, one that draws in big-name actors, even if it was for small roles. Indeed, the most recent comparable example, though on a bigger scale, would be Oppenheimer. It is those small production details that help define a film, help bring you into a narrative, and they clearly found some of the best in the business. It also helps that it does not beat around the bush when it gets down to the business of exploring the Nazis’ war crimes. It is confronting, horrific, and completely necessary for this film.

Historical Weight

Another strength is the idea of basing a film around the Nuremberg Trials, one of the most fascinating and impactful results of the Second World War. This time period gives you so much to play with from a narrative perspective. The trials were almost unprecedented; they were full of interesting characters to draw from, and the Iron Curtain had yet to fall. I mean that this is a film that can strong-arm a Pope and make you feel that this was probably the right course of action. You have the pressures of those looking for a better short-term response, that is, take them out the back and shoot them, contend with those looking at a better long-term outcome. The very idea that people should be held to account for crimes against humanity.   

The Focus

However, when tackling a film like this, when you are so removed from the time, you need an anchor, a hook, for the audience to latch onto, to take you through this story. For the purposes of this film, they chose one of the psychiatrists, Dr Douglas Kelley and unfortunately for the movie, I feel this was the wrong choice for two reasons. The first is that the film provides significantly more interesting characters to explore. This becomes even more apparent in the back half of the film, where you can feel them trying to find reasons for Douglas to be there.

The other issue is that Rami Malek is unfortunately not the right choice for this role. I cannot tell you if this is a casting or a directing issue, but Rami is giving a very similar performance that he has given in previous roles, and while that may have worked in No Time to Die, here it falters in the face of other players in the film. Russell Crowe is unnervingly captivating from the moment he arrives on screen. Leo Woodall brings the much-needed heart and grounding to the film. John Slattery & Michael Shannon bring the strength, and I think the film needed more Richard E. Grant.

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Nuremberg? This is a difficult question to answer because this is a film that flies high and crashes low. While there are some issues, at its core, Nuremberg is still a fascinating look at an event that is just as relevant today as it was 80 years ago. Its missteps don’t diminish the importance of the story it’s trying to tell. They just dramatically limit the potential reach of what could have been a phenomenal film.  

Have you watched Nuremberg? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Nuremberg, while it might be an odd choice to you, we would recommend Godzilla Minus One to you because it is one of the few films that has an honest conversation about the effects of WW2 on a people and society.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Nuremberg
Directed by – James Vanderbilt
Screenplay by – James Vanderbilt
Based on – The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai
Music by – Brian Tyler
Cinematography by – Dariusz Wolski
Edited by – Tom Eagles
Production/Distribution Companies – Titan Media, Bluestone Entertainment, Walden Media, Sony Pictures & Madman Films
Starring – Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Leo Woodall, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, Lotte Verbeek, Andreas Pietschmann, Steven Pacey, Paul Antony-Barber, Jeremy Wheeler & Wolfgang Cerny
With – Giuseppe Cederna, Dan Cade, Donald Sage Mackay, Dieter Riesle, Wayne Brett, Mesterházy Gyula, Sam Newman, Philippe Jacq, Peter Jordan, Tom Keune, Blake Kubena, Michael Sheldon & Fleur Bremmer
Rating  – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Germany: na; New Zealand: M; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13