The Zone of Interest

The Zone of Interest is one of those films where the less you know going in, the better. If you go into it knowing you are going to experience a film about Auschwitz and the Holocaust, you will be braced for a specific type of film and miss out on the shock and realization that comes when you find that part out. Yet this was heavily advertised when the film was released, perhaps realizing that the film would have a limited run in theaters and needed to grab people’s interest early and quickly. It’s an unfortunate reality that big-budget superhero films sell out auditoriums, and true masterpieces like this barely make a dent in the box office. 

To illustrate that concept, in 2023 when I was trying to find a showing of The Zone of Interest prior to the Academy Awards, I found that no theater within a hundred miles was showing it. I began to think I would not get an opportunity to see it in time for the ceremony, something that was repeated earlier this current year when I’m Still Here likewise was nowhere to be found in my neck of the woods. About two weeks before the Oscars Ceremony, The Zone of Interest was dropped unceremoniously only on digital purchase platforms, and that is where I finally saw it. By then, the topic of the film was already all over the internet amongst certain groups, so I knew what I was getting into. Still, that didn’t completely prepare me for what I was about to see. In the more than two years since I first saw it, The Zone of Interest haunts me. 

We, as the human race, can adapt to nearly anything. We can focus on the things we want to see and block out what we don’t want to see or hear. In Judgment at Nuremberg, Spencer Tracy asks a friendly German couple about living under the Nazi regime, and their response was to deny even being aware of the severity of the atrocities happening not far from their home. Self-denial or legitimate ignorance? We are not privy to that information there. That is different from what we are seeing in The Zone of Interest. Our main characters, Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig (Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller), know perfectly well what is happening just off-screen from their home in Poland. 

The film has a plot, but that is not the central point of the film. It is more about the atmosphere of the movie’s setting and the people involved. Rudolf Höss is the commandant of the German Auschwitz concentration camp. He, his wife, and their five children live in an idyllic home next to the camp with just a wall separating the two. While their home is beautiful and green with lots of flowers and a garden, just out of sight is the camp, which represents death and misery. Throughout the film, we will see slice-of-life moments in this seemingly perfect environment, but those scenes are permeated with the omnipresent sounds of the death furnaces, the cries of the Jewish people, and the sounds of weapon fire. Yet, the family is able to ignore these constant reminders of what is happening so close to their home and just go on with their lives. 

We never see the misery just around the corner. That’s the brilliance of this picture. Yet we are constantly reminded that it is there. I rarely mention the sound design of a picture, but this is a case where the sound mix makes the film. It is a constant presence that is unsettling and makes it impossible to care about the trifling complaints of Hedwig as she goes about her daily life. One of the most harrowing scenes is of one of the kids in their playroom just playing with his toys, and you can hear through his window the sounds of the raging furnace putting Jewish people to death. I challenge anyone to watch this scene and not be moved to tears by it. 

Almost as harrowing, but equally as sickening, is a moment when the kids are playing in the waters of a nearby river while their father is fishing. Suddenly, the water turns cloudy, and Rudolf realizes what is happening. The kids are rushed out of the water and straight to a bath. We’re not told directly but can infer that the ashen remains of the murdered Jews were disposed of into those waters. The callous attitude towards the massacred is on full display in the Höss family, who raise their children within feet of genocide but ignore it as if nothing were happening just on the other side of their tall concrete fence.

Christian and Sandra have one of the hardest tasks to perform when it comes to acting: being human while they are clearly inhuman. We get this in the normalcy of their lives as Rudolf is telling his children bedtime stories, taking them on horseback rides or swimming, while Hedwig proudly shows off her garden and flowers. This would all seem like normal were it not for the background noise reminding us that this is not normal at all. 

Despite all that pretense of normalcy, this couple are monsters, profiting off of the misery of others. Hedwig receives a fur coat and tries it on in the mirror, twisting and turning to admire this new acquisition. She finds some lipstick in the pocket, and suddenly we understand that this coat once belonged to someone who is now behind the walls in Auschwitz, maybe already dead. Knowing this, Hedwig applies the lipstick to herself, unfettered by what any of this represents. This lighthearted view in the face of mass genocide speaks volumes about the coldness these people, and so many others at the time, felt about the Jews. 

I usually feel that in order for a film to be great, it needs to have an important message and be entertaining. The Zone of Interest is one of the rare ones for me that qualifies as great without being entertaining. It’s a hard film to watch. I came away from it in 2023 feeling moved, disturbed, impressed, and never wanting to see it again. I still feel that way. For me, it is a one-and-done experience that I only revisited because I was writing this review. I am just as impressed with virtually every aspect of this film, but once again, I don’t ever want to experience it again. It’s a testament to how evil people can be while still projecting normalcy. That’s not a pleasant thought. We like to see our villains as mustache-twirling over-the-top baddies, and the reality is that is not often the case. Sometimes they can be just like your neighbor or co-worker. That thought, and the imagery of all the shoes of the killed piled up and on display behind the glass at Auschwitz, is enough to haunt me for the rest of my life. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: James Wilson

Best Director: Jonathan Glazer

Best Adapted Screenplay: Jonathan Glazer

Best International Feature Film: United Kingdom (won)

Best Sound: Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn (won)

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Release Date: February 2, 2024

Running Time: 105 Minutes

Rated PG-13

Starring: Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller

Directed by: Jonathan Glazer