The Zone of Interest
Movie, 2023, The 2020s, Set in Beside Auschwitz
The Zone of Interest is #32 of 37 in release order and #32 of 37 in chronological order in the A24.
The story
The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
The Zone of Interest recap
The Zone of Interest (2023) watches the home life of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his family in a villa whose garden wall backs onto the camp. Jonathan Glazer writes and directs, loosely adapting Martin Amis's 2014 novel and using fixed hidden cameras around the house. In 1943, Höss (Christian Friedel) takes his five children swimming and fishing, while his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) tends the flower beds, tries on a fur coat taken from a murdered Jewish woman and hands out the victims' clothes to her maids. The killing is never shown; it is heard over the wall as gunshots, screams, trains and the roar of the furnaces, and seen as smoke over the roses. Höss signs off on a more efficient crematorium design. When he is promoted to a post near Berlin, Hedwig, who calls herself the queen of Auschwitz, insists on staying in the house. Her mother visits and leaves without warning in the night. The film stands alone.
The Zone of Interest ending explained
The Zone of Interest ends with Höss in Berlin, given charge of the operation to bring 700,000 Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz, which means he can return to his family. Leaving a party of Nazi officials, he tells Hedwig by phone that he spent it working out how he would gas everyone in the room. Walking down a dark stairwell, he retches again and again and stares into the gloom. The film cuts to the present day, where cleaners tidy the Auschwitz museum around piles of victims' shoes, then back to Höss descending into darkness. The film won Best International Feature and Best Sound.
Post-credits scenes
No. The Zone of Interest has no mid- or post-credits scene; the credits play over a harsh, discordant score.
Where to watch The Zone of Interest
The Zone of Interest isn't on a US streaming service right now. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 93%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Iron Claw, before Civil War.
- Chronological order: after The Iron Claw, before Civil War.
Cast
- Christian Friedel as Rudolf Höss
- Sandra Hüller as Hedwig Höss
- Johann Karthaus as Claus Höss
- Luis Noah Witte as Hans Höss
- Nele Ahrensmeier as Inge-Brigit Höss
- Lilli Falk as Heideraud Höss
- Anastazja Drobniak as Annagret Höss
- Cecylia Pekala as Annagret Höss
- Kalman Wilson as Annagret Höss
- Medusa Knopf as Elfriede
- Maximilian Beck as Schwarzer
- Andrey Isaev as Bronek
Directed by Jonathan Glazer.