UK viewers can now watch the Oscar-winning historical drama 'The Zone of Interest' for free on Channel 4. Released in 2023, the film is written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, known for 'Sexy Beast', 'Birth', and 'Under the Skin'. It is loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis.
The film follows German Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig, who live in a home next to the concentration camp. Christian Friedel stars as Höss, with Sandra Hüller playing his wife. The story focuses on their idyllic domestic life while horrors unfold just beyond their garden wall.
'The Zone of Interest' won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film and Best Sound, and received three Baftas. Critics have praised it as 'chilling and profound' (Variety) and 'a devastating Holocaust drama like no other' (The Hollywood Reporter). Director Steven Spielberg called it 'the best Holocaust movie I've witnessed since my own'.
Glazer said he made 'two films' – the one you see and the one you hear – to convey the horror without showing it. 'Even though you don't ever see the horror, it is by far the most violent film I have ever worked on,' he said.
