Nuremberg may be the best movie of the year. While it may not be the best version of the Nuremberg trials as there have been other movies and a docu series, it’s the best political thriller of 2025, and more importantly, a timely historical lesson about justice. The film itself is not so much about the trial, but about the psychological evaluation of the captured Nazi high command to see if they are fit to stand trial. The trial scenes are engaging and dramatic, but it is the cat and mouse game between psychologist Douglas Kelley played by Rami Malek and Herman Goering played by Russell Crowe. Make no mistake, the trial offers plenty of emotional scenes where the talented cast get a chance to shine. Whether this film will win best picture, it is certainly one of the best movies of the year and should be seen by everyone especially as we celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
This is a good movie. Russell Crowe will certainly win an Oscar for his performance. He is frighteningly good as Herman Goering, and this just may be his best performance since Gladiator. But Rami Malik is also just as good. Their scenes as these two characters feeling each other out and try to get the upper hand make the movie worth watching. There are certainly scenes where I got goosebumps watching and reminded me of one of the best trial movies in the last 50 years, Primal Fear. However, unlike that film, we know how this ends. History offers no surprises, but there are certainly lots of shocking twists for those who may not know much about the psychological evaluation or have ever read Douglas Kelley’s book about his time in Nuremberg. It very much feels like a stage play that draws you in to the performances and make you easily connect to the characters. There are moments that try to humanize Herman Goering and his family. But the film isn’t without its flaws. We’ll get to that in a moment. Michael Shannon offers the other standout performance in the film. He plays Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson who came up with the idea to have the international tribunal who had to be a trial instead of just simple executions. As he explains in the film, they could not risk making these men martyrs but had to show the world the atrocities that the Nazis committed. He’s great in the trial scenes and adds new levels of heightened emotions especially where they show archival footage of the concentration camps. At times it’s not an easy movie to watch.
My biggest complaint is that it is a huge story to tell especially in 2 and 1/2 hours. I may sound like a broken record as a critic when it comes to whether this should have been a film or a limited series, but just like the other great political thriller of 2025, Anniversary, I think this is a story that should have been a limited series because it’s a very compacted story that they fit into a theatrical film. There were many more interviews with other Nazis that are just as important as the ones with Herman Goering, but this film only puts his evaluation front and center which limits the full scope of the Nuremberg trials. This is an iconic moment in history, putting our enemies on trial for war crimes is it important story to tell so of course it’s a huge story that may have been told better in 6 to 8 hours as a limited series. In my opinion the biggest fault of this film is that we only get the biggest highlights of the Nuremberg trials and not the full scope so I can’t help but wonder is there a director’s cut where the film is nearly four hours long and will add scenes that add more context and give the audience more scope on this overall story. I hope so, but it doesn’t take away from the fantastic performances.
The film will certainly be an Oscar contender, and I have no doubt that Russell Crowe will win his second Oscar. One of the other things that the film does well is to show the aftermath of the Nuremberg trials especially with Douglas Kelley promoting his book and trying to warn Americans that this thing can happen again… It can even happen in America. His own personal story is a tragic story as he became a raging alcoholic and eventually commits suicide, but his legacy lives on through his expert psychological evaluation of these evil men. Rami Malek and Russell Crowe have a great antagonistic chemistry that lights up the screen and despite all the platitudes and musings of these characters that may seem shortsighted when it comes to the larger story that needs to be told, it doesn’t make the film not worth watching. It is an important historical lesson especially for generation that may not know the history of the Nuremberg trials and its importance on the world stage. The film may serve as the “cliff notes” version of this important historical event, but the movie is engaging, emotional, and well easily keep you on the edge of your seat. Even a highlighted or compacted story can still be great especially if it inspires the audience to want to know more. Dr. Douglas Kelley’s book, 22 Cells in Nuremberg is certainly worth reading. However, even if you don’t go to the theater to see this movie, it is worth renting at home because like I said earlier it is one of the best movies of the year (2025)!
