A U.S. Army psychiatrist faces Hitler’s second-in-command in Nuremberg as the Allies prepare for the Nuremberg Trials after World War II and the Holocaust. The film is based on Jack El-Hai’s acclaimed non-fiction book, The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII.

“The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury, stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason.” – Justice Robert H. Jackson, Opening Statement at the Nuremberg Trials, November 21, 1945.

Set in the immediate aftermath of World War II, U.S. Army psychiatrist Lt. Col. Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) is tasked with a daunting assignment: evaluating the mental health of captured Nazi leaders, most notably former Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe), Hitler’s powerful second-in-command. As Kelley interviews his subjects, he must confront both their warped justifications and the disturbing human capacity for cruelty.

Meanwhile, the Allies—led by Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert H. Jackson (Michael Shannon) and a team including Sgt. Howie Triest (Leo Woodall), Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe (Richard E. Grant), Dr. Gustave Gilbert (Colin Hanks), Col. John Amen (Mark O’Brien), and Col. Burton C. Andrus (John Slattery)—work to establish the first international tribunal in Nuremberg. As Kelley gets to know his patients, his psychological battle with Göring becomes a chilling reminder that extraordinary evil can spring from ordinary men.

In the aftermath of World War II, the question of what to do with the surviving Nazi leadership was far from settled. U.S. President Harry S. Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin each had different visions: swift executions, show trials, or something in between. Bringing four nations together to prosecute on common ground was no small feat. In the end, they agreed to real trials, staged in Nuremberg—the very city where Hitler once orchestrated his infamous rallies.

This was a legal and moral experiment unlike anything attempted before. With no International Criminal Court in place, the Allies had to determine how to prosecute crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, wars of aggression, and conspiracy. They faced logistical challenges, political clashes, and the weight of history pressing down on them. Into this tense backdrop stepped the psychiatrists, whose job was to ensure the Nazi leaders were competent to stand trial.

It is here that Douglas Kelley’s work becomes essential. His assignment was unprecedented, but his findings were complicated. Alongside him, Gustave Gilbert reached very different conclusions, and theirs became a battle of interpretation. Gilbert’s assessments were the ones to enter public discourse, while Kelley’s more nuanced reflections largely faded. His book was a commercial failure, and in 1958, he tragically ended his life by swallowing cyanide. Still, his most chilling observation remains: that unimaginable crimes can be carried out by ordinary men.

The film’s release feels especially urgent today. Holocaust survivors and World War II veterans are dwindling. Each year, fewer attend ceremonies marking the liberation of Auschwitz or the Normandy landings. Soon, there will be no living witnesses to remind us of what was endured and what was lost. That responsibility will fall to us—to historians, to educators, and yes, to films like Nuremberg.

This urgency resonates for me on a personal level. I lost family in the Holocaust, and watching this film felt deeply intimate. Vanderbilt does not let the story remain only in interrogation rooms and court proceedings. During the International Military Tribunal, the prosecution introduces footage from the camps themselves. These are not re-creations—they are the actual images filmed during liberation. It is devastating to watch, but its emotional force lies in that very authenticity.

Nuremberg also makes space for individual stories within the broader historical sweep. Sgt. Howie Triest (my 14th cousin 8 times removed) fled Germany as a teenager, only to return as an interpreter for the U.S. Army. At first, we only know that his parents spoke German. Later, in a devastating confession at the train station, he reveals that his sister survived in Switzerland while his parents were deported to Auschwitz. This moment grounds the enormity of history in the heartbreak of one family, making the film all the more powerful. It is also the very moment when Kelley knows what he must do.

James Vanderbilt assembles a stupendous ensemble and deserves credit for broadening Nuremberg beyond Kelley’s book. By weaving multiple perspectives into the narrative, he captures the scale and complexity of an unprecedented tribunal, allowing history to unfold in layered fashion rather than a traditional three-act structure. Michael Shannon brings gravitas as Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert H. Jackson, while Malek and Crowe are riveting in their tense exchanges. Crowe, who broke his own rules to take the part, delivers a commanding performance. Behind the camera, Dariusz Wolski’s cinematography, Eve Stewart’s production design, and Brian Tyler’s evocative score give the film a striking sense of scale and weight.

While Nuremberg is a drama, it allows occasional moments of humor that never feel out of place. These brief flashes of levity are sometimes necessary in stories of such weight, offering the audience a small emotional release without undermining the gravity of the events. John Slattery shines in these moments, using his trademark wit and skill with sarcastic lines to provide subtle, well-timed relief that complements rather than distracts from the film’s intense narrative.

Though I was familiar with the Nuremberg Trials, I had never heard of Lt. Col. Douglas Kelley or his book about interrogating Nazi leadership. Whether this film will rival Stanley Kramer’s 1961 classic remains to be seen. What is undeniable is its timeliness: it arrives during the worst surge of antisemitism since the Holocaust, a moment when Jews are once again being boycotted simply for existing. If audiences watch Nuremberg and fail to recognize antisemitism unfolding before their eyes, the responsibility—and the silence—will be theirs.

Nuremberg is a reminder that history—and the vigilance it demands—cannot be forgotten.

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: James Vanderbilt
CAST: Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, Michael Shannon, Leo Woodall, Richard E. Grant, John Slattery, Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, Wrenn Schmidt, Lydia Peckham, Lotte Verbeek, Andreas Pietschmann

Nuremberg holds its world premiere during the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival in the Gala Presentations program. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film on November 7, 2025. Grade: 5/5

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