[8] It had its world premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2023 as a special screening,[6] where it competed for the L'Œil d'or.

In January 2022, it was confirmed that Steve McQueen would direct and produce the film about Amsterdam under Nazi occupation during World War II, with A24 and New Regency handling the domestic and international and both co-financing.

[12] McQueen said that there is a 36-hour version of the documentary and that he shot everything that is covered in the book Atlas of an Occupied City, Amsterdam 1940–1945 by Bianca Stigter.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Occupied City is an impressively ambitious attempt to connect the past with the present, although its repetitive approach and overwhelming length will be too much for many viewers.

"[19] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".