The Zone of Interest

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jonathan Glazer directs. Łukasz Żal behind the camera. Mica Levi scores. Paul Watts cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Poland, United Kingdom. Dialogue in German, Polish, Yiddish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Made its money back 3.5× over at the box office.
• 2Released 3 years ago.
• 3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: German, Polish, Yiddish.
• 4International production across 3 countries: United States of America, Poland, United Kingdom.
• 5246+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
• 6Directed by Jonathan Glazer, shot by Łukasz Żal. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 7Original score by Mica Levi. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 8Editor Paul Watts shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 9Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller and Johann Karthaus carry the top of the cast.
• 10Marketing tagline: "The life we enjoy.".
• 11IMDB entry: tt7160372 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 12Classified under 15 themes, including "husband wife relationship", "based on novel or book", "nazi", "concentration camp".
• 13Released under 35 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Łukasz Żal

Original score

Mica Levi

Editing

Paul Watts

Production design

Chris Oddy

Costume design

Małgorzata Karpiuk

Makeup / hair

Waldemar Pokromski

VFX supervisor

Bodie Clare

Sound

Johnnie Burn

Stunt coordinator

Jakub Kostrzewa

Runtime

105 min · 1h 45m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$15,000,000

Box office

$52,631,884

Return

351% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

The Zone of Interest (2023) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

93% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

92/100

IMDB rating

7.3/10 · 163,751 votes

MPAA

PG-13

Also by

Jonathan Glazer

• 
  Massive Attack: Eleven Promos

  2001 · ★ 8.8
• 
  blur | The Best Of

  2000 · ★ 8.3
• 
  The Work of Director Jonathan Glazer

  2005 · ★ 8.0
• 
  7 Television Commercials

  1998 · ★ 8.0
• 
  Sexy Beast

  2001 · ★ 7.0
• 
  The Fall

  2019 · ★ 6.7

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Filming Zone - Official Featurette Clip

  Behind the Scenes · Official
• 

  ▶
  Aleksandra Bystroń-Kołodziejczyk - Official Featurette Clip

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  Now Streaming on MUBI

  Teaser · Official
• 

  ▶
  The story behind The Zone of Interest's Oscar-winning sound design 🔊

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  The Zone of Interest cast and crew at the BAFTAs

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  The Making of - Official Featurette

  Behind the Scenes · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Lachlan Thiele2023-05-28
  ★ 9/10

  <b>INT. LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS - NIGHT</b> Auschwitz is the location of the world's most unforgivable crime — where humanity lost itself. An area forever marked with the horrors of xenophobia and a story that filmmakers continuously attempt to display on the screen. While holocaust cinema isn't being worked into the ground like other genres, there hasn't been a breath of fresh air for a while.  <i>The Zone of Interest</i> is that breath. From the get-go, you're engulfed back into Auschwitz, except in this film, there is a gorgeous house bordering the concentration camp. Immediately this large grey wall hiding the atrocities is juxtaposed with the family's beautiful garden, which their mother wishes to continue improving, never mind the continuous screaming and low rumbling furnace in the area. What <i>Johnathan Glazer</i> does with the sound design of this film is incredible; through audio alone, you're left with a sense of dread; how could you sleep when all you can hear are screams? The film opens with a black screen and an audio scape, immediately setting the tone.  <i>The Zone of Interest</i> layers many elements to create a narrative worth seeing. A narrative we know but in a brand new presentation.  <b>FADE OUT.</b>

  Read full review ↓
• Manuel São Bento2023-10-11
  ★ 8/10

  FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/the-zone-of-interest-bfi-london-film-festival-review-one-of-the-most-important-films-of-our-time/ "The Zone of Interest is one of the most memorable, remarkable films of the last few years. Jonathan Glazer achieves a fascinating dissociation between the general tone of the movie and the mundane actions of the protagonist family, portraying the unbelievably shocking global apathy in the face of the greatest crime in human history. An extremely complicated viewing, excruciatingly frustrating, full of negative emotions, and not very accessible to the general public. The atmospheric, static cinematography, together with the powerful score and especially the background sounds that will haunt any viewer, justify the use of the term "masterpiece" to technically describe the film. But more important than discussing technicalities and the explored themes, or rating a movie like this, is learning from the mistakes of the past that sadly insist on persevering..." Rating: ?

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2023-11-23
  ★ 7/10

  Christian Friedel is quite effective in his portrayal of the Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss here. He and wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) offer us one of the most stark contradictions I think I've ever seen on screen. The beautifully manicured garden of a delightful family home with an unique next door neighbour. That would be the Auschwitz concentration camp of which he was in control. We follow his selection to run the place, his increasing role in implementing the extermination processes and then gradually, as he is promoted again, their realisation that the idyllic life they want for themselves is doomed. It's the brutal comparisons that work best here. We don't really see anything graphic on screen, that's all left to our already well enough developed imagination. The blissful ignorance of their children, the ample supply of food and the prevailing attitudes that nothing at all is amiss compares frighteningly with the real life ghastliness of those just a few feet across a large concrete wall. I suppose it could have more meat on it's bones - maybe just a little too much is left to our own interpretation and it can be a little slow at times, but it still delivers well as a template for just how many people thought the mass killings was hardly more important than whether or not they'd run out of eggs. It's not an history lesson - there are corners cut and licence is certainly taken with some of the timelines, but it's still a poignant look at human behaviour that's well worth a watch.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  JW Films

  US

• 

  Extreme Emotions

  PL

• 

  Access Entertainment

  US

• 

  A24

  US

• 

  Film4 Productions

  GB

Key crew

• EditorPaul Watts
• CastingSimone Bär
• ResearcherLucy Pardee
• ResearcherMichał Śliwkiewicz
• CastingMagdalena Szwarcbart
• OtherFranz Rodenkirchen
• CastingAlexandra Montag
• Sound EditorMaximilian Behrens
• Focus PullerMaciej Król
• Focus PullerAnna Bogacz
• Focus PullerKatarzyna Świetlikowska
• Focus PullerFilip Baczuń
• Focus PullerJakub Kierski
• Focus PullerMarek Puzia
• Focus PullerŁukasz Skwara
• In Memory OfMartin Amis
• Digital Imaging TechnicianKrzysztof Włodarczyk
• Second Assistant DirectorMieszko Falana
• Second Second Assistant DirectorDominik Watin
• ThanksJane Robertson
• Sound Re-Recording MixerJohnnie Burn
• CastingJacqueline Rietz
• Visual Effects CompositorGiovanni Facci
• Matchmove SupervisorXavier Goubin

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• husband wife relationship
• based on novel or book
• nazi
• concentration camp
• holocaust (shoah)
• world war ii
• auschwitz-birkenau concentration camp
• garden
• biography
• based on true story
• nazi officer
• genocide
• 1940s
• commandant
• complicity

Release history · US

When it landed

• Premiere2023-09-01· Telluride Film Festival
• Premiere2023-10-08· New York Film Festival
• Premiere2023-10-18· Chicago International Film Festival
• Theatrical (limited)2023-12-15PG-13· New York City, New York / Los Angeles, California
• Theatrical (limited)2024-01-07PG-13· limited expansion
• Digital2024-02-20PG-13
• Digital2024-04-05PG-13· Max
• Physical2024-07-19PG-13· 4k / Blu-ray
• TV2024-04-06PG-13· HBO

Also known as

International titles

• 利益区域CN
• 더 존 오브 인터레스트KR
• منطقه مورد علاقهIR
• KP24: Interesų zonaLT
• La zona de interésES
• 존 오브 인터레스트KR
• Maraq DairəsiAZ
• Zona de interésAR
• Zona de InteresseBR
• Zona De InterésCL
• 兴趣之地CN
• 利害之畿CN
• Zona De InterésCO
• Zona interesaHR
• Zóna zájmuCZ