The Zone Of Interest: Lacks Story, But By Design [SPOILERS]

In the movie, we follow the lives of Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Höss along with his wife and children as they live what can only be described as the perfect little life. They fill their days with swimming and parties and gardening, all while behind the walls of their home – and just out of frame – some of the worst horrors imaginable take place. 

There is little in the way of a story. There’s no build up, there’s no climax, there’s barely an act structure. But by no means is that a complaint. My takeaway here is that we are meant to just exist in that world and experience the hubris of many Germans during that time. We are meant to sit with the discomfort. We are meant to see what they did (not) do, and by extension, feel the desperation and frustration and anger that those being sent to the camps must have felt. This movie will not likely provide you with any new information about the Holocaust, but it will surely impress upon you a different perspective from that terrible part of history.