The Zone of Interest - Review : The Boring, Mundane Reality of Evil

The Zone of Interest (2023)

The Boring, Mundane Reality of Evil

★★½☆☆

A polarizing, experimental look at the "banality of evil" that often feels as stagnant as the lives it depicts.

Lucky 13 Review

The Zone of Interest

★★½☆☆

Directed by Jonathan Glazer • 2023

Release Date

December 15, 2023

Rotten Tomatoes

93%

Letterboxd Score

4.1/5

Running Time

1h 45m

Official Synopsis

Loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, this chilling historical drama follows Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig. Together, they strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden situated immediately outside the concrete walls of the concentration camp. Jonathan Glazer crafts a brilliant, deeply unsettling examination of the banality of evil, relying on an extraordinary, layered soundscape to convey the horrors occurring just out of frame while the family carries on their idyllic, domestic routines.

Expanded Ensemble

• Christian Friedel as Rudolf Höss
• Sandra Hüller as Hedwig Höss
• Johann Karthaus as Claus Höss
• Luis Noah Witte as Hans Höss
• Nele Ahrensmeier as Inge-Brigitt Höss
• Medusa Knopf as Elfriede

Expanded Architects

• Director: Jonathan Glazer
• Screenplay: Jonathan Glazer
• Producers: James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
• Cinematography: Łukasz Żal
• Film Editor: Paul Watts
• Sound Designer: Johnnie Burn

Official Promotional Trailer

Production Info & Specifications

Financial Budget	$15 Million
Global Box Office	$52.7 Million
Capture Format	Digital (Sony VENICE / Multiple Hidden Camera Rig) • 1.78:1 Layout
Primary Locations	Oświęcim, Lesser Poland, Poland
Production Label	A24 • Film4 Productions • Access Entertainment

Directed by Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest is a film whose impact depends entirely on how the viewer interprets its lack of traditional narrative. On the surface, we watch the insignificant minutiae of a Nazi family's daily life. The artistic weight comes from the unsettling rumblings and screams of misery persisting in the background from the adjacent death camp. While it effectively illustrates how humans can become desensitized to suffering for the sake of self-preservation, the repetitive nature of these points makes the 1 hour and 47 minute runtime feel significantly longer.

"Evil can be as boring as a family picnic, or as mundane as washing the dishes... After awhile, one almost wants to beg and scream at the film to give us something worth watching and noteworthy. But that's the point."

— Ray Manukay

🎬 Cast & Crew

• Director: Jonathan Glazer
• Starring: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller
• Cinematographer: Łukasz Żal
• Studio: A24

The Vision

Glazer’s vision is undeniably "pretentious" and experimental, eschewing standard cinematic immediacy for a fly-on-the-wall perspective. He uses a static, multi-camera setup to capture uninteresting, familiar family events in a beautiful, idyllic setting—juxtaposed against the unseen horrors over the garden wall. The goal is to reinforce the idea that humanity can be selfish and ultimately cruel through institutional desensitization. However, by repeating the same morbid points in uninteresting ways, the film risks alienating viewers who expect a nuanced, complex narrative or character development.

🎬 Cinephile Fun Facts

• The "Hidden" Crew: To achieve a naturalistic feel, Glazer set up [up to 10 cameras in the house and operated them remotely, so the actors were alone in the set without a visible crew.
• Audio Horror: The "background" sounds of the camp were created by sound designer Johnnie Burn, who compiled a library of industrial and human sounds to play throughout the film without ever showing the source.
• Oscar Success: The film won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film and Best Sound at the 2024 Oscars.

✅ Pros

• Masterful and unsettling use of background sound.
• Powerful theme concerning the desensitization of humanity.
• Visually idyllic cinematography juxtaposed with grim reality.

❌ Cons

• Lacks a strong, thrilling narrative or complex characters.
• Runtime feels much longer than it is due to pacing.
• Points can feel repetitive and "pretentious."

The Full Analysis

Much has been written and said about the polarizing film The Zone of Interest, particularly after it received the Oscar for Best International Feature Film at the 2024 Academy Awards. One’s view of the production will likely be determined by how they interpret the seemingly inane plot. On the surface, the audience watches the insignificant minutiae of a typical family going about their day. However, the weight of these events is amplified because the family happens to be Nazis, and the setting is the immediate outskirts of an Auschwitz death camp during World War II.

The primary artistic contribution to the proceedings is the unsettling soundscape: the constant rumblings and screams of misery from prisoners that drift into the background of these familiar, uninteresting family events. The point is clearly to illustrate how monsters can appear remarkably normal and even relatable, showing how easily people can turn a blind eye and become desensitized to suffering due to unjust institutional interests and self-preservation. It suggests a flawed society where humanity is often selfish and inherently cruel.

Whether the movie is actually "good" is a complicated question, as it is undeniably pretentious. A talented storyteller could arguably convey these same simplistic themes in a three-minute PSA, yet director Jonathan Glazer chooses to stretch the concept across a nearly two-hour runtime. The film can be infuriating to watch, with no immediacy to the action, making the experience feel significantly longer than its clock time. We wait for something narratively interesting to happen, but the same morbid points are simply repeated and reinforced through unremarkable, idyllic imagery contrasted with those haunting background cries.

The Zone of Interest serves as a stark reminder that evil can be as boring as a family picnic or as mundane as washing the dishes. Those moved by the irony of how detached and boring inhumanity can be will likely give the film high marks. However, for those seeking a strong, thrilling narrative with a nuanced look at complex characters, this project will likely frustrate. It remains a singular, chilling curio that prizes its heavy atmosphere over traditional engagement, providing a sharp, satirical edge to the domestic life of history's most infamous figures. It is a solid achievement in sound design and sensory dread, even if the cinematic journey itself feels like an endurance test.

🏆 Final Verdict

★★½☆☆

A film designed to be infuriating and mundane to mirror the boring nature of evil. If you value irony and thematic atmosphere over story, this is for you; otherwise, it may feel like a three-minute PSA stretched to feature length.

View on Letterboxd