The list of upcoming A24 movies features everything from classic concert films, to biographical dramas, to long-awaited horror flicks, and so much more. Another movie slated for release by the popular indie studio is The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust drama that takes one of the worst moments in modern human history and looks at it in a way that has never really been done before.
So, before the German-language drama about the commandant of the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp and his family makes its debut on the 2023 movie schedule, let’s go over everything we know about The Zone of Interest so far…
What Is The Zone Of Interest Release Date?
There really isn’t that much time to wait until we get to see Jonathan Glazer’s first movie in a decade (his most recent film, Under the Skin, came out in 2013), as it will make its theatrical debut on December 8, 2023. A24 hasn't revealed if this will be a limited debut followed by a wider release some weeks later, but expect to hear more about the theatrical rollout as we get closer to the end of the year.
Sandra Hüller And Christian Friedel Lead The Zone Of Interest Cast
When The Zone of Interest premieres in December 2023, it will feature a cast mostly consisting of German actors – which makes sense considering the movie is set in German-occupied Poland during the height of the Second World War. At the top of the cast is Sandra Hüller, who will be playing Hedwig Höss, the wife of Auschwitz-Birkenau commandant Rudolph Höss, who is played by Christian Friedel.
Other members of The Zone of Interest cast include Ralph Herforth, Daniel Holzberg,Medusa Knopf, Maximilian Beck, Sascha Maaz, Ralph Herforth, and multiple others in roles that are, at this time, undisclosed.
The Zone Of Interest Centers On The Commandment Of The Auschwitz Concentration Camp And His Family
Though the majority of Holocaust movies are told from the point of view of the men, women, and children who were imprisoned in various concentration camps throughout Nazi-occupied Europe, The Zone of Interest will take a much different approach with its story. Instead, the movie will be told from the perspective of the commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau and his family, who live in a house just outside the notorious camp where an estimated 1 million people lost their lives (per the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial).
According to the movie’s official synopsis, The Zone of Interest will follow Rudolf and Hedwig Höss as they strive to build a dream life for their family in the house and garden next to all the pain and death inside the camp’s walls.
The Zone Of Interest Is Loosely Based On Martin Amis’ 2014 Novel Of The Same Name
Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest is loosely based on the 2014 novel of the same name written by the late British author Martin Amis. However, there are some differences between the original novel and the upcoming book-to-screen adaptation. In the source material’s description provided by Penguin Random House, it’s noted that Amis’ story partly focuses on a fictional character inspired by Rudolf Höss. The character has reverted back to the historical figure in the film adaptation.
Christian Friedel Said Watching His Portrayal Of Rudolf Höss Was Frightening
By all accounts, Rudolf Höss was a terrifying person, even by Nazi standards. According to the commandant’s biography in Britannica, the SS member was known for coming up with deadlier and more efficient ways of using gas chambers and crematoriums at the Auschwitz camp before being put in charge of all concentration camps just before the war’s end. That being said, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise that Christian Friedel, the actor who plays Höss in The Zone of Interest, told The Jerusalem Post that playing him was a frightening experience:
The challenge in this project [was] for us to find authenticity in the situations. I watched the movie for the second time and I feel very uncomfortable, because some of the situations I was thinking 'OK, that, that was me' sometimes and that frightens me.
Though authenticity can often make a performance that much better, it appears that in the case of Friedel playing Höss, it wasn’t without its drawbacks.
Jonathan Glazer Thought It Was Important To ‘Show These People As People’ With The Depictions Of The Nazis
There have been multiple movies based on the Holocaust released over the years, with Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List being one of the most notable and harrowing. Like that iconic 1993 movie, The Zone of Interest won’t hold back with its descriptions of Nazis and the crimes against humanity they committed at concentration camps. But Jonathan Glazer told Deadline he also wanted to show a more banal version of Nazis for a simple reason:
I hope the film that we made, what it’s trying to do is to talk to the capacity within each of us for violence. Wherever you’re from, it’s to try and show these people as people, not as monsters; that was an important thing to do. The great crime and tragedy is that human beings did this to other human beings. it’s very convenient for us to distance ourselves from them.
It will be interesting to see what Glazer does to treat the Nazi characters like humans and not like the monsters that typically show up in these types of movies. However, this is not to say he humanizes the killers.
The Zone Of Interest Was Partially Filmed At The Real Auschwitz Concentration Camp
Instead of using soundstages or recreations of the notorious death camp, Jonathan Glazer partially filmed The Zone of Interest at the actual Auschwitz – something that he told the Associated Press was a must when planning out the film:
It was never an option for it to be shot anywhere else. We tried to look for a place to shoot in other parts of Poland, but I kept gravitating back to Auschwitz.
This isn’t the first time a movie set during the Holocaust was shot at Auschwitz, however, as Schindler’s List and several other World War II-era movies spent part of their respective productions within its walls.
Expect to hear more about The Zone of Interest in the coming weeks, especially regarding its trailer, as we get closer to the release of a movie that will surely come up in the 2024 Oscars conversation in the near future.
