When I heard about The Zone of Interest (2023) which confines its horrors almost exclusively
to sound; I was intrigued. Consequently, I did not realize that this film would propel me into a
world of metaphysical crisis.

There is no denying that The Zone of Interest is a beautifully shot film. Director Jonathan
Glazer took it upon himself to film exclusively with natural light. This infuses the scenes with
a scary dose of reality.

The Zone of Interest centers around Rudolf Höss (played by Christian Friedel) who was the
commandant of Auschwitz (1943 -1945). Höss, his wife Hedwig, and their five children
infamously lived in the concentration camp at the bottom of their garden hidden by a high
wall (and some trees).

After the audience is made aware of this fact the movie, almost immediately, splits into two
separate movies. The German family drama unfolding in front of our eyes and the echoing
sounds of the atrocities surrounding the house filled our ears. Glazer himself stated himself
that the production was filmed as two separate movies; first the visual movie and then the
auditory.

I have never been so aware of sound whilst watching a film. The continuous sound of
gunshots raised cruel voices and pleading in different languages. The ever-present
chimneys looming in the background; horrifically begin to spew black smoke and ash. Even
the sound of a distant steam train becomes sinister. Trains carrying thousands of people to
their almost certain deaths.

Many viewers have voiced their hatred of the central family. And they are very easy to hate.
One of the first things we see Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) do is receive parcels from a
wheelbarrow-wielding Auschwitz inmate. These ‘parcels’ turn out to be possessions stolen from the concentration camp prisoners (guards would often help themselves to loot items).
Hedwig tells her paid staff to help themselves to a collection of women’s clothing she ‘gifts’
them (which the staff gleefully do). Whilst Hedwig herself tries on a mink coat. She even
finds a tube of lipstick in the pocket and of course tries that on too. At this point, it dawns on the audience that Hedwig is wearing the coat of a most likely dead or dying person. Later in the film, Hedwig asks her husband to get her ‘chocolate’ or ‘goodies’ from the camp.
One look at Rudolph Höss’s history will disgust anyone, it’s hard to amalgamate this Rudolph
to the loving father and husband we see portrayed on screen. The real Höss’s daughter;
Brigitte was around 8 years old during the time of the film. When elderly Brigitte was
interviewed she made it clear her dad was “wonderful” (Harding, 2024). She was of course
devastated when her father was hanged (on the grounds of Auschwitz no less) for his crimes
against humanity. And that is something this film does; it gives him humanity in a way that is
very conflicting.

The other Nazis running the camp gather at the Höss villa to toast the commandant’s birthday
(how nice of them). One of the most shocking scenes, in my opinion, is during this

celebration when Rudolph takes his boots off at the door of the villa because I assumed he
didn’t want to tread mud on Hedwig’s clean floors. However, when one of the inmates washes
his boots under the outside tap we see they are covered in blood. Seeing the clean water turn
red is a perfect metaphor for the film.
As much as I tried not to I couldn’t help but feel a familiarity with the situation the family are
in. Hear me out. Sounds of human suffering encroach on the villa from all sides as the family
go about their day-to-day life. Not unlike how our lives are constantly bombarded by news of
Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, and hundreds of other humanitarian crises filter through
our newsfeeds daily. Shockingly I saw myself in Hedwig; planning my next holiday, getting
excited about new clothes, and lipstick while all these atrocities played out in the background.
Am I any better than this family? Just because I am not actively taking part in human
suffering I know about it yet choose (for the most part) to turn a blind eye.
Evil thrives under complacency. And it’s easy to transform Nazis into sadistic demons
wearing jackboots instead of humans. In one scene the commandants of every concentration
camp all meet to discuss ‘The Final Solution’ to exterminate the Jewish population and
undesirables of society using gas chambers. With how many of these commandant’s are
shown it reminds us just how many camps there were. How heavily guarded these camps
must have been. Of all these hundreds of guards they can’t all of have been sociopaths and
psychopaths. They were just regular people with families like the Höss’s and that’s what’s
scary. Many must have had children around the same age as the children they were
strategically killing. In fact one of the reasons for the use of gas chambers was so the SS
officer’s morale wouldn’t be too damaged by constantly having to shoot large groups of
people, most of which included women and children. They wouldn’t personally have to see
the massacres.
Much like Hedwig, it’s easy to compartmentalize and tend to your beautiful garden as the
sounds of death and violence echo in the distance. On the surface,e the characters seem
unaffected until we see that Rudolph is seeing a physician for idiopathic gastrointestinal
problems and the nanny is constantly knocking back what I assume is not water.
The Zone of Interest perfectly encapsulates the complacency of our times by using a recent
historical example. We can no longer claim ignorance. So I must ask where is your garden
wall situated?

Five stars.