The Zone of Interest: A Look At Evil That Appears Normal

There is a strange relationship in America with fascism (aside from the rising tide that has come to the forefront in recent years) and specifically the form it took during World War II. A large part of this comes from the fact that World War II has a very black-and-white morality that made it easy for pop culture to adapt (there was even a long-running sitcom set in a German POW camp) and that adaptation has made it easier for a viewing audience and the general public to distance themselves from the evils that were committed by the Nazi regime. Movies and history in some parts of the country do not portray Nazis as individuals, they’re faceless masses that we don’t have to deal with anymore because the Americans went into Europe and toppled Hitler with some help from the British, French, and Soviets.

The Zone of Interest is immediately the opposite of this. The protagonists of the film are the family of the man who runs Auschwitz and are by and large just living their life. Essentially, the film is a slice-of-life exploration of the mundane in the most extreme scenario possible as this family is dealing with issues like relocation due to promotion and reassignment, trying to give a sense of normalcy for their children, and the related marital issues that come from all those things, it’s just while their property shares a wall with a concentration camp. It does not shy away from this fact either, any shot where the camp can be seen, it is in full view so the viewer can juxtapose the life these people are living of reasonable affluence. There is minimal score as well and in the places where there would be a score there is just muffled sounds from the other side of the wall. The screaming, the orders from the guards, the gunshots, it’s all within earshot and just a constant din as the film tells the story of this family.

This is an important movie, arguably the most important movie to come out in 2023, because of how it shows people of all ages can become desensitized to the atrocities being committed just because their beliefs align with the people committing said atrocities. It shows that evil can form early, become instilled in people, and just become normalized to the point where there is a scene in the film where two characters are discussing someone who could very well be on the other side of the wall and lamenting the fact that one of the women did not win the auction for the curtains in the house that she coveted.

The film is unsettling, it is uncomfortable, and that is by design. The viewer is not meant to find any place where they can escape the reality of the situation and it works for what the film is. With the state of the world now, like the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, it is imperative to remember that on both sides of atrocities, there are real humans involved either as victims or perpetrators. The Zone of Interest does the best job of any film to illustrate that fact, even with a scene as cut and dry as a man sitting in his office plotting the creation and implementation of incineration chambers only to immediately go out and play with his children. If one can see The Zone of Interest, they absolutely should as soon as possible.

Final Rating: 10/10