2023 · 105 min · Drama, Historical, War
The Zone of Interest is Jonathan Glazer's devastating, Academy Award-winning film depicting the domestic life of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his family, who live in a comfortable home with a lush garden directly adjacent to the concentration camp. Deliberately refusing to show the horror directly, the film — heard but never seen — is one of the most harrowing and formally innovative works in recent cinema.
The Zone of Interest streams on Max with any subscription plan.
Yes — The Zone of Interest won two Academy Awards: Best International Feature Film and Best Sound. It was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.
The film is based on Martin Amis's 2014 novel of the same name. Rudolf Höss was a real historical figure — the longest-serving commandant of Auschwitz — though the film takes artistic liberties.
Director Jonathan Glazer deliberately chose to show only the perpetrators' domestic world, allowing the audience to fill in the horror through sounds alone — an approach that makes the film arguably more disturbing than a direct depiction would be.
The film is primarily in German with English subtitles. It won the Best International Feature Film Oscar, representing the UK.