Nuremberg (2025), Dir James Vanderblit, Sony Pictures Classics, 5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: Matthew Alicoon

Nuremberg (2025), Dir James Vanderblit, Sony Pictures Classics,

5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: Matthew Alicoon

Running Time: 148 Minutes

“This is cinema of rare conviction.”

Based on the true story, in Nuremberg psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) is challenged with evaluating the psychological headspace of Hermann Göring (Russel Crowe) along with fellow nazi leaders, to make sure they are capable to stand trial for the Nuremberg trailers.

For a film grounded so firmly in examining the aftermath of World War 2, Nuremberg resonates with an immediacy that speaks directly to the present. Its implications – moral, psychological and political extend far beyond its setting. The film reminds us of how the architecture of evil and the pathology of evil still remain unsettlingly relevant to this day. Nuremberg is based off a book The Nazi and The Psychiatrist and James Vanderblit’s adaptation is a meticulous study of human complexity. What distinguishes Vanderbilt’s film is how it allows space for reflection and silence to accumulate these horrific events. Through the structure of the film, the relationship between Douglas Kelly and Hermann Göring unfolds with an unnerving intimacy. 

Rami Malek is magnificent here, delivering some of his career best work in a role where he has to consistently remain in control. He embodies the charismatic precision of Douglas yet wonderfully masks the profound internal conflicts. You get to see the true cost of man studying evil – only to find it staring right back at him. The hostility of the situation is chillingly captured by Russel Crowe, whose performance is horrifyingly controlled. The smallest gestures including gets some Hermann standing up after everyone else in the court and posing for the cameras, carry a horrifying persistence of self-image amid moral collapse. Together Rami Malek and Russel Crowe are electrifying on screen together, evoking an authentic tension and escalation. Michael Shannon gives provokes an authoritative edge with his character of Robert H. Jackson. Richard E.Grant provides a sombre and dignified performance in the closing of the film. Leo Woodall brings a tight restraint as Howie Triest, reinforcing the film’s moral gravity. The courtroom sequences between Crowe and Shannon feel a rhythmic akin to a chess match – strategic and tactile. I was particularly educated by Vanderbilt’s decision to show how the build-up to the trial was an eloquently planned exercise in negotiation.

A moment set within a concentration camp reinforces the historical enormity of the subject without glamorising the issue. It is a moment that left my audience stunned in silence and as a viewer leaves you still. The 148 minute running time allows such moments to breathe with the script feeling like a careful meditation on accountability – urgently showing not just what was done, but what continues to be ignored.

Nuremberg is an educational inquiry into the nature of accountability itself. The final scene is devastating with its restraint, acting as a reminder of how evil can be manifested anywhere and everywhere, yet can be merely observed and too often forgotten. This is cinema of rare conviction: Vanderbily’s masterpiece is thought-provoking, terrifying and profoundly justified. With multilayered precision with its moral compass exploration, Nuremberg earns deep reverence. This is one I think needs to be shown in all educational establishments, as above all this is a piece of history to be remembered.

Cast

Rami Malek as Douglas Kelley

Russell Crowe as Hermann Göring

Leo Woodall as Sgt. Howie Triest

John Slattery as Burton C. Andrus

Mark O'Brien as John Amen

Colin Hanks as Gustave Gilbert

Wrenn Schmidt as Elsie Douglas

Lydia Peckham as Lila

Michael Shannon as Robert H. Jackson

Richard E. Grant as David Maxwell Fyfe

Crew

Director – James Vanderbilt

Screenwriter – James Vanderbilt

Producers - Richard Saperstein, Bradley J. Fischer, James Vanderbilt, Frank Smith, William Sherak, Benjamin Tappan, Cherilyn Hawrysh, István Major & George Freeman

Cinematographer – Dariusz Wolski

Editor – Tom Eagles

Music – Brian Tyler