Downfall

Audience Reviews

View More

Manav G @RT59669790 Oct 25, 2026 A great movie, definitely recommended for anyone who enjoys war films. It offers a unique perspective on WWII without portraying the horrors of the battlefield and the Holocaust. It makes the viewer feel like they’re inside Hitler’s bunker. The lead actor’s gradual shift in emotions is brilliantly portrayed, deeply unsettling and stays with you long after the movie ends. See more

malcolm M @malcolm123 Sep 27, 2026 What I found fascinating was not just the portrayal of Hitler, brilliant though it was. The movie essentially begins at the point where everyone in the bunker understands at some level that their actions are suicidal, and yet they all keep going. All of the characters are driven by different motivations: delusion, honor, ideology, realistic fatalism, denial. This complex mix of motivations and emotions is portrayed brilliantly, and it really brings home that the most evil regime in history was really just made up of people with all their foibles. This is a more frightening thought than the cartoonish evil usually portrayed in Hollywood movies. See more

Jonathan K @aFIREintheattic Aug 23, 2026 Downfall is a very deliberate movie, no huge sense of build or energy, and that's partly because it just drops you right in the middle of an arc that's already been going for years, toward the very end of the war. The first third-ish of the film, leading up to them getting into the bunker, moves along in that meticulous fashion. From there it's a slow crawl toward what's really the point of the film: Hitler's deterioration and loss of reality -- to the extent that he ever had it. Bruno Ganz's performance is obviously the most notable thing here. It's impressive, someone fully given over to playing one of the most evil men to ever live. I know at the time this was released it was at least a little bit controversial, because instead of some supernatural caricature of evil, what's shown is a deeply flawed human being, but a human nonetheless. The movie never gives him a pass and it definitely doesn't want you to empathize with him, but it... [continued on letterboxd] See more

Bongo T @BongoT Jul 17, 2026 A fascinating insight into human nature. I saw this film less as about a commentary on Herr. H. and more about how power and anarchy coexist in eternal struggle. On the one hand we have a young Fr. almost infatuated with the leader, and we see how the corridors of power close in closer and closer, limiting the power she was drawn to until she has to let go of her infatuation and see the world for how it really is. On the other hand we have Fegelein- an opportunitic and ambitious officer, and his attempts to advance himself at every turn- and plenty more characters besides. Not an easy watch, especially when Fr. Goebbels puts her children to bed- but a very astute movie, with a real message See more

Ed B. @EdLee Jun 15, 2026 Downfall, is an excellent film depicting the last days of Adolph Hitler. Gritty And Historic film. One of my favorites. See more

Lucia L. @RT39628433 May 30, 2026 Incredible historical story from a perspective that is not commonly known. Traudle beared witness to the final moments of the fall of the nazis and the cowardly exit of hitler. See more

Read all reviews

Downfall

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING