The Zone of Interest is a 2023 film directed by Jonathan Glazer that is loosely based on the novel of the same title by Martin Amis. It depicts a Nazi family living their idyllic life in their dream home, which has just a wall separating their garden from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
The Zone of Interest is a film that really fell under the radar this year, despite being produced by popular indie production company, A24. That is until it received five Academy Award nominations, including the categories Best Picture, Best Director, and Best International Feature. I personally make it a goal to see all ten best picture nominees each year, so when I saw that it was playing at a small art house theater, Cinemapolis in Ithaca, I had to check it out for myself. I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything like The Zone of Interest in my life.
What sets this film apart from other Holocaust films such as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas or Schindler’s List is that the audience never actually sees the atrocities being committed, however, we can hear it. The Zone of Interest is a film that solely relies on sound design to show how the Nazi family completely ignores the screams and gunshots they hear from the camp because they are so used to them. For example, the film will show the matriarch of the family, Hedwig, doing something an average woman would do, such as pulling weeds in her beautiful garden. While we’re watching her garden, we can hear the horrifying screams coming from the concentration camp that’s just over the garden wall. She doesn’t react or acknowledge what she’s hearing in any way, she simply carries on. This film utilizes sound in an incredibly unique and disturbing way that I haven’t seen in any other film.
The Zone of Interest itself is incredibly slow and frankly, boring. It is a film that depicts a family simply living and doing normal things such as gardening, fishing, and having pool parties, but we can almost constantly hear gunshots and wailing in the distance. What makes the film so interesting is that these simple family activities are depicted in the same way as a slow-burn horror film. There is an intense, overbearing, and scary score that will play over the most mundane scenes such as the family eating dinner, which gives the audience a deeply unsettling feeling that lasts the entire film and the drive home.
The Zone of Interest made me feel like it was building up to show some horrible, violent event, but it never did. I think that this is where the genius of the film lies. It does not ever show us the horrors and violence that’s taking place at Auschwitz, it’s more about the horrors of complacency and ignoring violence when you encounter it. The family constantly hears the sounds of hundreds of thousands of people being murdered and chooses to completely ignore it and go on with their “perfect” lives because it is easier that way. I think that it is also a film that’s incredibly relevant today. How many times do you see a headline about horrible violence going on in the world and you choose not to read it because it will make you feel too depressed or uncomfortable?
Overall, I thought that the film was very interesting to say the least. It is certainly not for everyone, as there is no goal to entertain the audience. It is a very slow and boring film, but I believe that that was the entire point. The film being so boring reinforced the theme that the audience is meant to understand. I can absolutely see why it was nominated for so many Oscars. It is a beautifully shot and well directed film. If it goes home with any Oscars in March, I believe that it deserves the award for Best Sound. The Zone of Interest is unlike anything I’ve seen, or rather heard before, and is certainly worth a watch, even if it is hard to stomach at times.