The Zone of Interest

Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller, a far cry from her role in Anatomy of a Fall) have created a seemingly idyllic home for themselves and their children. The fact that their house sits on the edges of Auschwitz doesn’t seem to faze this picture-perfect family as they enjoy idyllic picnics by the lake and family time around the pool; when Hedwig isn’t entertaining guests, she tends to her bountiful “paradise garden”. The only indications of what lies beyond their palatial home are the discordant screams and gunfire that echo throughout the day and the billowing chimney stacks just visible beyond their fence.

Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and based on Martin Amis’ novel of the same name, Glazer’s first film since his 2013 sci-fi masterwork Under the Skin approaches the challenging source material in a far more austere and chilling way, opting to not show the abject horrors of the holocaust death camps. Aided by a remarkable sound design that fills in the gaps of the unseen misery surrounding Höss’ tranquil garden estate and punctuated by Mica Levi’s unsettling score, The Zone of Interest is an unflinching study of the banality of evil.