The Zone of Interest, more than any other film I watched, demands that it’s seen in the most immersive manner possible; it does not contain mass forms of spectacle but rather requests that you pay attention to every sensory bit of detail. The buildings in the background, the subtle screams, and the vines that cover it all up all add to Jonathan Glazer’s horror.
The Zone of Interest follows a family of a Nazi commandant as he tries to build a paradisic home near a concentration camp. Despite all the serene, beautiful images of a peaceful and idyllic family life present, the film never lets you quite forget that you are watching a man responsible for thousands of deaths in a heartless genocide.
This film is one of the most horrifying films I have watched this year despite not being a horror film at least on a surface level. It’s a constant glimpse into a land right next to hell, where dozens are being brutally murdered per day. Shots will focus in on nature including flowers as you can hear screams. It’s a reminder of a very specific type of evil; the type of evil that allows others to conform and ignore. It’s a reminder that true evil doesn’t even view itself as an evil force, and is incredibly difficult to reason with.
The soundtrack, the fantastic shot composition, and the general sound effects all create a unique nightmare-like energy around its shots. It’s a film that everyone should witness at least once; it’s a nightmare and a cautionary warning tale within the form of cinema stating how fascism and totalitarianism can take away morality and make basic morals questioned when it does not directly concern oneself.
Overall, the film serves as a warning; while we may not like to think so, it connects to the audience who might be fooled by such serenity. Moments where you find yourself as bored by it serve as a reminder of how deceptive evil is.
