When The Zone Of Interest hit an extremely limited number of cinemas in the US on 15 December, the critical consensus was clear: this was a masterpiece. It was widely agreed that director Jonathan Glazer, the auteur behind Sexy Beast and Under the Skin, had created an extremely disturbing, challenging film that confronted the Holocaust and the "banality of evil" in ways that cinema had not yet seen.
It finally landed in the UK on 2 February without much promotion. Inevitably, word of mouth (or, as it’s now known, social media) spread quickly – and interest in Glazer's film was ramped up when it was nominated for four Oscars. Soon you'll be able to catch it outside of cinemas, too. Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch The Zone Of Interest:
The background
Very loosely based on the 2014 Martin Amis novel of the same name — the author died before the film was released — it follows the Nazi commandant Rudolf Hoss (Christian Friedel), his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), and their five children as they live a charmed life in their villa and lush garden, which shares a wall with Auschwitz concentration camp. Hoss was responsible for the creation of the gas chambers of Auschwitz, intended to increase the number of Jewish victims that could be killed at one time, all mere metres from his family home.
As we follow the almost documentary-like normalities of the Hoss family life – Glazer blackly described it to The Guardian as "Big Brother in the Nazi house" – we hear what's really going on outside their "paradise garden": the screams of prisoners, the howls of pain, the shouting of guards, and the gun shots, all painting the true picture of the abject horror of that time in history. According to Jonathan Glazer: “There is the movie you see, and there is the movie you hear”.
What have people said about the film?
The Times called it a “landmark movie, hugely important, that's unafraid of difficult ideas” while the FT said: “Glazer has achieved something much greater than just making the monstrous mundane — by rendering such extreme inhumanity ordinary he reawakens us to its true horror.” The Daily Telegraph added: “Through painstaking framing and sound design, its horrors gnaw at the edge of every shot.”
Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg praised the film, calling it the best Holocaust film ever made since his own, Schindler's List: “It's doing a lot of good work in raising awareness, especially about the banality of evil”.
How can I watch The Zone Of Interest?
The A24 film is still in cinemas across the UK and the US, which is where we'd recommend it's best experienced. Although it has been available in the US for rent or to buy since 21 February, a UK date has yet to be released.
It's set to arrive on Amazon Prime Video – currently available to preorder – and on the Apple store.
Due to a deal between A24 and Max in the US, the film will likely be streaming on Max in America later this year, with a UK streamer yet to be confirmed.
As ever, we'll keep you updated as to when one of the year's most compelling films will be available to watch at home.
