The Zone of Interest: an eerie, unforgettable film - review

Set during WWII in Germany, the German film The Zone of Interest follows high-ranking Nazi officer Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) who not only oversees what’s going on at Auschwitz, he lives right next door to it, his backyard only separated by a high brick wall.

His wife (Sandra Hüller, who also stars in the equally brilliant film Anatomy of a Fall) gets packages delivered by prisoners from the camp. Inside, she finds clothing, including a mink coat. She reveals that she once found a diamond hidden in a toothpaste tube. She and children have garden parties and play in the pool as we hear trains arrive with more people at the concentration camp. Nazis loudly bark out orders, screams are heard and gunshots ring out as selections are made, then dark smoke plumes out of the ovens, but the German family doesn't even seem to notice. While a nightmare is happening on the other side of the wall, they're completely unperturbed.

The Hösses and their friends live out seemingly normal existences that make what's happening in close range to them even more horrifying. We can even see one of the buildings of Auschwitz above the garden wall -- so close you could almost touch it, but the family seems oblivious.

I've seen many movies set during the Holocaust, but this one gives a completely different view to anything I've ever witnessed on the screen. It's chilling and haunting -- it's a film you won't soon forget. It won five awards at this year's Cannes Film Festival, including the prestigious Palme D'Or -- the highest prize awarded at the festival. ~Alexandra Heilbron

The Zone of Interest debuts in select cities on December 22, 2023.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

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