‘Phenomenal’ New Historical Drama Nuremberg Starring Russell Crowe, Rami Malek & Leo Woodall Earns Perfect Viewer Ratings – A Gripping Masterpiece Redefining Justice on Screen

November 16, 2025 – In a cinematic reckoning that feels ripped from today’s headlines, Nuremberg—the unflinching historical drama from writer-director James Vanderbilt—has stormed theaters with a perfect 10/10 viewer rating on IMDb and Letterboxd from over 120,000 fans. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7 to a thunderous four-minute standing ovation—one of TIFF’s longest ever—this powerhouse film, inspired by Jack El-Hai’s riveting book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, plunges audiences into the shadowed cells and tense courtrooms of the 1945-46 Nuremberg Trials. Critics and viewers alike are hailing it as “phenomenal,” “a must-watch,” and “the most urgent film of the year,” with petitions surging to make it required viewing in high schools worldwide to confront the ghosts of fascism head-on.

At its core, Nuremberg isn’t just a retelling of the Allies’ landmark prosecution of 22 top Nazi leaders—it’s a psychological thriller disguised as history. Rami Malek delivers an Oscar-bait tour de force as U.S. Army psychiatrist Lt. Col. Douglas Kelley, dispatched to Luxembourg to assess the mental fitness of prisoners like Hermann Göring, ensuring they can stand trial for crimes against humanity. But as Kelley probes the minds of monsters, he uncovers a chilling truth: evil isn’t madness—it’s method. “If we could psychologically define evil, we could make sure something like this never happens again,” Malek’s Kelley declares in a scene that has left audiences breathless, blending intellectual fervor with creeping dread.

Russell Crowe, unrecognizable under layers of prosthetics and a morphine-fueled sneer, embodies Göring—the bombastic Reichsmarshal and Hitler’s right-hand man—with a commanding, terrifying magnetism that dominates every frame. Crowe’s Göring isn’t a snarling caricature; he’s a silver-tongued manipulator who toys with Kelley in candlelit jailhouse interrogations, debating free will over smuggled cognac. “We are all capable,” he whispers in one gut-wrenching exchange, a line echoing through post-screening discussions like a verdict yet to be rendered. The Hollywood Reporter called Crowe’s work “among his best,” a verbal joust that “grabs the spotlight and lets us into the Nazi psyche like never before.” USA Today agrees: Crowe “knocks it out of the park,” turning the trial into a cat-and-mouse game where wits are the deadliest weapon.

Leo Woodall, the breakout heartthrob from The White Lotus, steals scenes as Sgt. Howie Triest, a German-Jewish émigré turned U.S. Army translator whose personal Holocaust scars fuel a raw, tear-jerking monologue about lost family that has audiences reaching for tissues—and demanding encores. “Woodall notches the film’s standout performance,” raves USA Today, his vulnerability a stark counterpoint to the courtroom’s cold steel. The ensemble shines: Michael Shannon as steely prosecutor Robert H. Jackson, Richard E. Grant as the sharp-tongued David Maxwell Fyfe, John Slattery as prison commandant Burton C. Andrus, and cameos from Mark O’Brien, Colin Hanks, and Wrenn Schmidt add layers of Allied resolve amid the moral quicksand.

Vanderbilt, reuniting with Sony Pictures Classics after 2015’s Truth, crafts a handsomely mounted epic with Dariusz Wolski’s probing cinematography—tight close-ups that trap sweat and secrets—and a score by Alexandre Desplat that hums like suppressed thunder. Shot in recreated bunkers and actual Nuremberg archives, the film weaves real 1945 audio tapes into its fabric, from Göring’s cyanide-laced suicide note to haunting witness testimonies. Yet it’s no dry docudrama: the first half tightens like a noose, building to a 15-minute single-take courtroom cross-examination that reportedly triggered audible gasps at TIFF.

Viewer reactions border on the evangelical. “This should be mandatory in every school—I haven’t slept since,” posts one IMDb user, echoing a Change.org petition with 250,000 signatures urging global curricula inclusion. Another: “Crowe’s Göring made me question humanity. 10/10—history will never look the same.” Even as critics note some “artistic license” and Malek’s “overdone mannerisms,” the consensus is electric: Rotten Tomatoes sits at 70% from critics but a flawless audience score, with The Guardian praising its “moral autopsy of the 20th century.”

Opening November 7 to $52 million domestically—a record for R-rated historicals—Nuremberg arrives on the 80th anniversary of the trials, its themes of accountability resonating amid global reckonings. Vanderbilt told Deadline: “We exhumed a ghost. Now it’s everyone’s to face.” Prepare to be challenged, stirred, and forever changed—this isn’t a film; it’s a summons to justice.