The Zone of Interest
Year: 2023
Rating: PG-13
Length: 105 minutes / 1.75 hours
There are few films I have ever seen that use subtlety to such an enormous effect like The Zone of Interest (2023). The raw understanding of what was happening just out of view of the commandant’s house set outside the walls of Auschwitz brought a horror that is hard to describe. And while this film leans a bit heavily on some of its more artistic segments, the actual point it tries to make comes across loud and clear. This point should give us all pause.
The genuine horror that The Zone of Interest provides is how casual it is about the genocide perpetrated by these Germans. This family lives its life as if nothing abnormal is happening mere yards from the home where they cook, clean, and play. Normalizing the thinking of everyone involved—even if it’s as tangential as a wife or child—makes you consider how complicit everyone was in the atrocity of the Holocaust. That they focus on how to get ahead in their careers or how to keep up with the neighbors, all at the cost of human lives next door, makes it even more chilling.
And while the moments of artistry are occasionally there to break up the “monotony” of the German lifestyle, they were often just weird enough to make me wonder what I was watching. Sure, there’s probably a deeper meaning there in the audio-only beginning, infrared night scenes, or modern-day cutaway. However, the stronger statement is showing how easy it is for people to condone the evils in society when they benefit from them. The parallels to current political ideologies are hard to ignore, and for that reason, I think The Zone of Interest is a required watch for everyone.
An artsy look at the complacent horrors of the Holocaust, I give The Zone of Interest 4.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
