UPP Film of the Year: The Zone Of Interest12A

Directed by Jonathan Glazer | Poland/UK/USA | 2023 | 1h 45m | German, Polish & Yiddish w/ English subtitles | Starring Sandra Hüller, Christian Friedel, Freya Kreutzkam, Ralph Herforth, Max Beck

In occupied Poland, German SS Officer Rudolf Höss and his family reside within the perimeter of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. While Höss carries out his duties as the camp commandant, his wife and children lead relatively normal lives, with the horrors of the Holocaust just beyond their garden walls. Acclaimed director Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin) returns with this stunningly shot and chilling examination of the banality of evil, adapted from Martin Amis’ novel. Winner of 3 BAFTA Awards and 2 Academy Awards, including Best International Feature Film and Best Sound.

Voted UPP Film Of Year by our staff and volunteers. Click here to see our official Top Ten.

Reviews

‘As a piece of observational cinema that borrows from the very visual grammar of nonfiction films, The Zone Of Interest is an instant classic, a masterpiece whose every gorgeously framed shot aims to stun you into silence.’
★★★★★
Manuel Bentancourt, The AV Club

‘As well as being an important contribution to the cinema of the Holocaust, though, it also touches more widely upon themes of privilege, complacency and compartmentalising…a masterpiece.’
★★★★★
Nicholas Barber, BBC

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed UPP Film of the Year: The Zone Of Interest between February 23, 2024 and January 12, 2025.

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