Did Russell Crowe’s WWII Film Just Claim Rotten Tomatoes’ Rarest Record?
Russell Crowe’s WWII drama Nuremberg lit up TIFF — and not just for its story. The not-yet-released film is making waves for an unusual Rotten Tomatoes record after its critic score initially limped in at 40%.
Russell Crowe showed up at TIFF with a World War II drama and somehow walked away making Rotten Tomatoes do the opposite of what it usually does. The movie is called 'Nuremberg,' and the early buzz is less about a splashy premiere and more about a ratings curve that almost never happens.
The rating curve you basically never see
After debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival, 'Nuremberg' started with a pretty rough 40% critic score on September 10 (via ScreenRant). Then it went up. And kept going up. That runs against the usual pattern where scores drift downward as more reviews come in and the average gets tougher to move.
- Sept 10: 40% (via ScreenRant)
- Within a day: 50% with 12 reviews (via Collider)
- Latest count cited: 67% with 24 reviews
That climb is unusual enough that people are already tossing around the phrase 'awards-season comeback' for Crowe. Hyperbole? Maybe. But a momentum swing like that, post-festival, definitely raised eyebrows.
What the movie actually is
'Nuremberg' is directed by James Vanderbilt and zeroes in on the post-World War II trials that put Nazi leadership on the stand. It is based on Jack El-Hai's nonfiction book 'The Nazi and the Psychiatrist' and centers on Dr. Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek), an American psychiatrist tasked with evaluating Nazi leaders to decide if they are mentally fit for trial. When Kelley encounters Hermann Göring (played by Crowe), the story becomes more of a psychological duel than a simple diagnostic assignment. The movie blends courtroom drama with a chilling power game, asking uncomfortable questions about responsibility and evil, and how easily charisma can warp judgment even from a jail cell.
Runtime is 2h 28m. 'Nuremberg' is set to open in US theaters on November 7, 2025.
Crowe went deep for Göring
At a TIFF press conference (via THR), Vanderbilt said Crowe approached the role with heavy-duty prep. He reportedly traveled around Germany to locations tied to Göring's early life to get under the character's skin. The director talked about the commitment like he was watching a younger, hungrier version of Crowe dig in again, which might explain why critics at the premiere called it one of his strongest turns in years.
'He did an incredible amount of research... He traveled around Germany to places from Goring's childhood. He was as hungry as an actor as I've ever seen anyone, and that was a true gift.'
That level of immersion tracks with what the early reviews are responding to, and it probably helped fuel that rare Rotten Tomatoes upswing.
The lineup
Alongside Crowe and Malek, the cast includes Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, John Slattery, Leo Woodall, Mark O'Brien, Colin Hanks, Lydia Peckham, and Wrenn Schmidt. It is an impressively stacked set of players for a movie that is part legal drama, part psychological chess match.
So, is this the comeback?
Too early to call, but the cocktail here is promising: a weighty subject, a director openly raving about his lead, an atypical ratings climb, and the kind of performance people like to nominate. If that 67% (from 24 reviews) holds or rises as more critics weigh in, expect the buzz to stick around through the long march to November 2025.