MOVIE: The Zone of Interest (2023)
The Zone of InterestYear: 2023Rating: PG-13Length: 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...