Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- serious
- morally urgent
- restrained
- history discussion
- serious movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film to be a satisfying and impactful courtroom drama elevated by Rachel Weisz's performance, while noting that it does not fully do its extraordinary true story justice.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Lipstadt's defense team builds its case around archival research, expert testimony, and inspection of Auschwitz rather than allowing the defendant to argue directly.
The central legal conflict requires Deborah Lipstadt and her lawyers to prove that the Holocaust occurred after David Irving accuses her of libel.
The trial, Auschwitz evidence, and Lipstadt's position as a Jewish historian place Holocaust remembrance and denial at the center of the film.
The film concentrates on British courtrooms, legal offices, research materials, and the austere remains of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Films like Denial, and why
Judgment at Nuremberg
historical courtroom drama centered on a real legal battle, moral responsibility, and testimony
The Reader
fact-based courtroom drama confronting historical atrocity through legal argument and evidence
The Eichmann Show
serious biographical drama about truth, public memory, and resistance to ideological distortion
Movie Details
- Director
- Mick Jackson
- Release Date
- 2016-09-30
- Runtime
- 109 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (717)
Cast
- Rachel Weisz
- Tom Wilkinson
- Timothy Spall
- Andrew Scott
- Jack Lowden
- Caren Pistorius
- Alex Jennings
- Harriet Walter
- Mark Gatiss
- John Sessions
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Denial about?
- A historian and her legal team confront a libel suit designed to force Holocaust denial into a public reckoning with evidence.
- What is Denial like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Denial as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Denial violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Denial as mild.
- What did critics think of Denial?
- Critics broadly found the film to be a satisfying and impactful courtroom drama elevated by Rachel Weisz's performance, while noting that it does not fully do its extraordinary true story justice.
- Which films are like Denial?
- Films with a similar feel include Judgment at Nuremberg, The Reader, and The Eichmann Show.
- How long is Denial?
- Denial runs 109 minutes.
- Where can I watch Denial?
- In United States, Denial streams on Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads.
