← Back to the films

Crime thriller

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse

Year
1933
Director
Fritz Lang
Length
121 minCriterion German-language presentation Version sources ↓

A criminal mastermind confined to an asylum appears to direct a new empire of terror through written instructions.

Search for a copy ↓ Before you watch ↓

Amazon.com search · paid link. Check the edition and region before buying.

Language
French, German
MysteryTenseStrange Approachable · For patient viewers Crime thriller

Edited by Monocurator

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse — Perspective lettering, scattered manuscript pages and red rings surround an empty chair.

Image: Monocurator · source · Original Monocurator artwork

What to expect

Fritz Lang connects modern crime, institutional power, and disembodied command with unnerving precision. Voices cross walls, plans outlive their author, and apparently isolated crimes begin to resemble parts of one administrative system.

How to ease in

Keep two threads in mind: the investigation outside the asylum and the documents emerging inside it. The pleasure lies in watching those systems approach one another. The German and French versions were filmed separately with different casts. Criterion lists its German-language presentation at 121 minutes and includes the French-language version as a separate film, not simply a French audio track.

Heads-up

A quick, non-exhaustive note Contains murder, suicide, explosions, organised crime, psychological distress, and authoritarian violence.
Momo's Note May contain spoilers Who is Momo? →
Open the note ↓ Close the note ↑

What frightens me most is how little Mabuse needs to appear. Paper, routine, and obedient intermediaries allow a personality to become a system that keeps moving without a visible body.

— Momo

Momo thinking about this film

Credits & versions

Version map

Criterion German-language presentation 121 min Criterion lists the German-language presentation at 121 minutes. The simultaneously filmed French-language version uses a different cast and is listed separately; this timing does not establish the French runtime or a measured playback duration. Source: Criterion — The Testament of Dr. Mabuse Runtime reference · Checked 2026-10-25
French-language version, Le Testament du Dr. Mabuse A separately filmed French-language version with a different cast, included separately in Criterion’s listed edition. Its runtime is not established here; no streaming inclusion or current availability is inferred. Source: Criterion — The Testament of Dr. Mabuse Checked 2026-10-25

Sources for the facts

Where to go next

Want a gentler, shorter, or stranger next film? Ask Momo for something like this →
Momo is on shift. Visit Momo Cinema →

More from 1933 → More by Fritz Lang →

Continue through the catalogue →