The Big Picture
-
The Zone of Interest
will begin streaming on Max on April 5. - The movie stars Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller.
- The movie won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film
at the 96th Academy Awards.
Oscar-winning historical drama The Zone of Interest is all set to arrive on Max on April 5, 2024, in addition to being currently available for rent and purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV+. The film tells the chilling story of a German S.S. officer and his wife, living in a zone of interest outside the Auschwitz concentration camp. The film stars Christian Friedel (Babylon Berlin) and Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall) in the lead roles.
The Zone of Interest originally premiered in May 2023 at the Cannes Film Festival and won Best International Feature Film and Best Sound at the 96th Academy Awards in 2024. The film went into the Oscars with five nominations and is the latest Holocaust movie to have been honored by the Academy. Since its release, the film has grossed $8.2 million at the domestic box office, and $16 million in other territories, and therefore, has managed to rake in about $24.2 million worldwide. Jonathan Glazer’s chilling story about the home of a high-ranking Nazi family is in fact also still playing in select theaters across the US.
The film has also received plenty of critical acclaim, with Collider’s Ross Bonaime calling it “wholly unique and undeniably terrifying.” In fact, on Rotten Tomatoes, The Zone of Interest has a strong critic score of 93%, and over at IMDB, it has managed to score 7.5 ratings from over 52k reviewers.
‘The Zone of Interest’ Is Chilling in It’s Realistic Approach
The harrowing story of the film is loosely based on the 2014 novel of the same name by the late author Martin Amis, which is partially based on real events. To retain the realistic tone of the book, Glazer filmed the movie by setting up hidden cameras throughout the set. This way, the actors had to act out their scenes more naturally than they would otherwise, with multiple scenes sometimes running at once.
The Zone of Interest is also the second film set in or around the Auschwitz concentration camp to win the award in the International Feature category in the last ten years, with Hungary’s 2015 war drama Son of Saul being the first. According to the filmmakers, the film is more about the present than the past. In the words of producer James Wilson, “The film is trying to suggest that it [Aushwitz] is not a mythical place. There isn’t a mythical evil in Auschwitz. The Holocaust didn’t just happen in Auschwitz. The Holocaust happened in all sorts of places. It happened there, it happened in Germany, it happened in Amsterdam, it happened in all sorts of places.”
The Zone of Interestwill be available to stream in the US on Max starting April 5, 2024. Those who wish to rent it before the big day can do so on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime.
The Zone of Interest
The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
Release Date December 15, 2023
Director Jonathan Glazer
Cast Sandra Hüller , Christian Friedel , Freya Kreutzkam , Max Beck
Runtime 105 minutes
Main Genre Drama
Writers Martin Amis , Jonathan Glazer
