The Guardian's review of In the Shadows of Nuremberg criticises director Nikolay Lebedev's attempt to dramatise the Soviet perspective on the Nuremberg trials, arguing that a clumsy personal subplot and an undercurrent of sentimental patriotism undermine what could have been a compelling companion piece to films such as last year's Russell Crowe-led Nuremberg. The reviewer finds the film's ambition to become a Russian equivalent of Saving Private Ryan largely unrealised, faulting Lebedev for prioritising a shaky missing-soldier storyline over the weightier legal and historical material unfolding in the courtroom.

The plot follows Red Army intelligence officer Igor Volgin, who takes a translating post with the Soviet delegation at Nuremberg while searching for his missing brother, aided by a woman secretly informing for a Nazi resistance figure seeking to keep Göring under German rather than international jurisdiction. The review notes the subplot is only loosely connected to the wider judicial narrative, with key threads left unresolved, while restless camerawork favours sweeping cityscape shots over character focus. Though not overtly propagandist despite Russian state backing, the film is said to lean into a maudlin nationalism that jars with its stated theme of universal justice overriding national interest. The film, first released in 2023, becomes available on digital platforms from 14 September.