Director: Jonathan Glazer
Starring: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 105 mins

The Zone of Interest is director Jonathan Glazer’s new film, an uncomfortably long eleven year wait after Under The Skin. Loosely adapted by a 2014 Marin Amis novel of the same name, Glazer became intrigued by the book prior to being published. The novel tells the story of Rudolf Höss, the longest-serving commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he lived with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) in what they perceived as their idyllic home. Small catch – the garden wall with barbed wire atop it is shared with Auschwitz. 

Through extensive research into the Hösses, Glazer pieced together what their life looked like during the time they lived outside the camp through examining testimonies provided by survivors and individuals who had been employed in the household. It’s certainly commendable that Glazer has poured so much passion into a project and given how Sexy Beast, Birth and Under The Skin all occupy completely different genres, can he inject his magic into this dark point of history? 

The Zone of Interest is a fiercely original work from Glazer that’s uncomfortable viewing and really gets under your skin. The film possibly represents the most important use of sound I can think of in quite some time – the sound of the droning concentration camp with its whirring machinery is ever-present during mundane conversation and day-to-day life. Glazer never shows us the atrocities inside the camp and what we hear beyond the frame is another film in itself. I loved the surreal elements too, particularly a storyline shot with thermal cameras. 

The film is initially quite light on story but we start to learn more about and then follow Höss’ career as it progresses. Christian Friedel is sensational as the despicable SS officer – a cold, calculated yet frank and career-driven individual. His whole life becomes an obsession into how fast he can kill and there’s an everyday quality to the terrible schemes he is complicit in, which makes the film all the more chilling.  A scene where gas chamber designs are discussed akin to the design for a car is particularly effective. 

Sandra Hüller, so brilliant in Anatomy of a Fall (another Academy Award for Best Picture contender this year), is arguably even more despicable than her husband. She is deeply attached to their home and doesn’t think her life can be bettered. It doesn’t take a lot for her to lose her temper, with chilling threats of violence or death to the rotating roster of Jewish housemaids. 

The film is masterfully shot by Loving Vincent and Cold War cinematographer Łukasz Żal, an incredible shot of a chimney through a window that’s reflected on the glass will forever be ingrained in my memory. Mica Levi’s score, although sparse, is also deeply effective. Save for two doom-laden tracks at the beginning and end, the rest of the film uses more of a soundscape except for a recurring motif during the surreal sequences.  

The Zone of Interest is a fascinating work in Glazer’s career, despite its cold and intentionally bad taste that will leave you thinking long after the credits have rolled. The performances, cinematography and sound are all top-drawer and the innovative use of sound alone is reason to experience this film on the big screen. I’d quite like to see it again as I suspect it will improve on a rewatch.