Nuremberg Movie Is Dominating Netflix — Russell Crowe's Hermann Göring Performance Is the Reason
It took four months to travel from theaters to streaming — and Nuremberg hasn't missed a beat. The Russell Crowe and Rami Malek WWII psychological thriller hit Netflix on March 7, debuted at No. 3 on the platform's U.S. Top 10 within 24 hours, and has held that position all week. Critics were measured. Audiences are not.
What the Nuremberg Movie Is About
The film opens in the immediate aftermath of Nazi Germany's surrender on May 8, 1945, and traces the long road to the International Military Tribunal — the unprecedented legal body created to prosecute top Nazi officials.
Malek stars as Douglas Kelley, a U.S. Army psychiatrist assigned to evaluate 22 high-ranking Nazi prisoners before they face trial. What begins as a professional assignment slowly takes on a more unsettling character when Kelley finds himself locked in a complex psychological battle with Göring — civil and occasionally even charming in their sessions, but deeply manipulative and operating with calculated purpose.
Göring is portrayed not as a one-dimensional villain but as a highly intelligent narcissist who, even in captivity, remains convinced he will escape punishment for his crimes. Crowe plays him in German for stretches — a detail that landed hard with audiences and has been among the most-cited points of praise since the November theatrical run.
The Nuremberg Cast: Four Oscar Winners, One Ensemble
Russell Crowe stars as Hermann Göring alongside Rami Malek as psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, Michael Shannon as chief prosecutor Robert H. Jackson, and Richard E. Grant as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe.
Leo Woodall plays Howard Triest, a German-born Jewish interpreter whose presence lends the story a deeply personal dimension. John Slattery portrays prison warden Burton Andrus, Colin Hanks appears as court psychologist Gustave Gilbert, and Mark O'Brien takes on the role of prosecutor John Amen.
The film was written, co-produced, and directed by James Vanderbilt — the screenwriter behind Zodiac and Scream — marking one of his most ambitious directorial undertakings to date.
Critics Split, Audiences Unified
The gap between critical and audience reception is one of the widest of any major release this cycle. Nuremberg earned a 71% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed $45 million at the global box office against a reported production budget of around $10 million.
Audience scores tell a different story entirely. The film maintains a Verified Hot rating of 95% from over 1,000 user reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with the audience consensus describing Crowe and Malek as delivering a thought-provoking psychological duel with dramatic weight and historical depth.
The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus reads: "Driven by a commanding performance from Russell Crowe, Nuremberg is a handsomely crafted historical drama, but its measured pacing and emotional restraint keep it from fully realizing the complexity of its subject." Calls for Crowe's Oscar consideration have circulated on social media since November.
Now Streaming on Netflix — and Beating the Dinosaurs
Nuremberg entered the Netflix Top 10 Movies in the United States at No. 3 on March 8, 2026, the day after its streaming debut, and has continued to hold strong, beating out blockbusters including Jurassic World and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.
The film landed on Netflix as part of a Pay-1 licensing agreement between the platform and Sony Pictures. Its streaming trajectory is tracking closely behind War Machine, the Alan Ritchson sci-fi title that exploded on Netflix earlier this year.
What's Next for Russell Crowe
Crowe is currently filming Highlander alongside Henry Cavill, has the completed thriller The Weight with Ethan Hawke awaiting distribution, and is set to release his next film Beast on April 10.
Nuremberg is streaming now on Netflix. The film runs 148 minutes and is rated R.
