A bold, unsettling new World War 2 drama is shaking up cinemas this week, offering a darkly satirical look at the twisted relationship between Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler during the dying days of the Third Reich.
Goebbels and the Führer, directed by Germany’s Joachim Lang, has already earned rave reviews for its unflinching portrayal of Nazi propaganda, paranoia, and self-delusion – making it one of the most talked-about war films of the year.
Set in the final years of WWII, the movie strips away the mythos of Nazi invincibility to reveal a regime rotting from the inside.
Robert Stadlober (Summer Storm) delivers a mesmerizingly grotesque performance as Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s chief propagandist – a man who spun lies so relentlessly that he started believing them himself.
Opposite him, Fritz Karl plays a weary, increasingly erratic Hitler, clinging to delusions of victory even as the Reich crumbles.
The film doesn’t just show us battle scenes or war-room strategies, but zooms in on the psychological warfare within the Nazi high command – showing how Goebbels manipulated not just the German public, but even his own Führer.
The film has been out for a short time, but reviews are already in: The Guardian calls it a “bleak, austere satire” that exposes the cowardice and self-deception at the heart of the Nazi regime, while The Financial Times praises its exploration of propaganda, drawing eerie parallels to modern disinformation.
Critics are hailing Stadlober’s Goebbels as a preening, narcissistic monster, more concerned with his image than Germany’s survival.
Comparisons online are also being drawn to other films, like Downfall (2004) – similar but less satirical -, The Zone of Interest – for its cold, clinical dissection of evil, Valkyrie and Schindler’s List – but focusing on psychological manipulation rather than battlefield heroics.
Goebbels and the Führer is also being branded one of the most incisive Nazi dramas in years – a cautionary tale about propaganda, power, and the banality of evil.
Goebbels and the Führer was released on June 6, and is out in UK cinemas now.