James Vanderbilt’s compelling courtroom thriller “Nuremberg” transports audiences back nearly 80 years to the aftermath of World War II, dramatizing the first international tribunal against surviving Nazi leaders. Yet, both filmmakers and cast firmly believe its profound message resonates as powerfully today as it did then, probing not only the horrific crimes committed but also the very nature of evil itself. Based on Jack El-Hai’s book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist,” Vanderbilt’s script delves into a pivotal chapter of history through a uniquely intimate lens.

The film boasts an impressive ensemble cast, featuring Oscar winner Rami Malek as Army psychiatrist Douglas Kelley, tasked with the complex evaluation of Nazi war criminals. Russell Crowe delivers a towering performance as Hermann Göring, Hitler’s notorious second-in-command, capturing a paradox of charisma and monstrosity. John Slattery portrays a U.S. officer, Richard E. Grant appears as Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, one of the tribunal judges and the British prosecutor, and Michael Shannon brings his trademark intensity to Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, the chief U.S. prosecutor. Rising star Leo Woodall also cements himself as a force with his emotional turn as a translator, a role for which he, alongside Crowe, painstakingly learned German.

Vanderbilt, who both wrote and directed the film, recalled being immediately struck by the story's immediacy over a decade ago, calling it