B B

Alright, here we go. Like many others, I don't normally write reviews, but if I'm coming out the woodwork, it must be bad. I have never been a superfan of the 28 series, however, I do love zombie films and shows. That being said, this movie left 100% to be desired. Worst film of the year so far I've seen. The trailer was a 10/10 with where it could have gone. The movie AT BEST is like a 2 or 3 out of 10. This wasn't even a case of the trailer spoiling all the best parts of the film, there was just no plot, no point, no story. There were so many things random, wrong, poor writing, unbelievable, etc. All the while, the plot was weak and completely arbitrary. Literally, I was hoping for like a new generation world of the outbreak (new world order, etc. - none of that.) The ending was terrible. All of the acts (1, 2, and 3) were terrible. This whole thing played out like a side quest that could have been in 10 minutes. The infodumping was weak. The deux ex machina weak. And the ridiculous montage/cinematographic work was also weak. I swear... I'm not kidding. When I say that a nine-year old could have written a better rough draft in school, I'm not lying. Please don't waste your money.

TL; DR: Art is subjective and while many liked this film, I did not. Not at all. But before I go into my review of The Zone of Interest, I want to make sure that you understand where I’m coming from. As someone who is both a connoisseur and purveyor of art, I take cinema, music, and the written word extremely seriously. Empathic by nature, I cry at commercials, experience spiraling depression from music, and get physically sick from news articles, live interviews, and video footage and documentaries alike. Film is a visual and auditory experience. If done well, our hearts should be ripped out and held in front of us by the cast, director, and cinematography team, leaving it up to their vision to do what they will with it. For me, art is meant to be felt. Viscerally. I love anything historical, including WW2 and the Holocaust, so I went with it. With just the trailer and quick synopsis in hand prior to stepping into the movie theater, I could already pick up on the fact I was unlikely to enjoy this film. This film gave me exactly what I expected it to. No more, no less. Sure, we get these people want to protect their children from the horrors of what is happening next door and give them as close to a normal childhood as possible. I also understand the Nazis hired this man to do a job, as well as the production team wanting to make a social commentary on what apathy does to both society’s and the individual’s soul. The lack of character growth ruined this film. Additionally, the lack of plot. As an audience, we are so far removed to where it was like watching ants in an ant farm. I could not care less what happened on the other side of the wall because no one cared. Nor did I care what happened to his family. There was literally no emotional or psychological investment in this film by the audience because nothing ever happened. A public servant by trade, I’m the type of person who saves the starving animals, picks up trash in the neighborhood, and wants to buy land just to turn it into a tiny home development for the homeless. I promise I care, but not about this film. The MOST interesting part was the ending scene. Literally. That was the best and only worthwhile part. Intro and Outro were overly dramatic and ran wayyyyy too long. I was praying that it was something demonstrative of those individuals inside the gas chambers, just a flicker of something to hold onto, but even then I'm grasping at artistic straws. Literally nothing happened. The intro portion of the score runs 3:07 but it felt like ten minutes. While its purpose was to be artistic, they should have cut minutes before. The score should enhance the experience, but unfortunately, the overt length of the intro music broke the immersion because it went on for like 30% too long. The rest of the score was languid, mirroring the banality. The negative film was the second-best part. 100%. I waited so hard for something to happen with the girl’s story. Why? Because we finally had a story and a character. If this entire film ran opposite of each other, the light side and negative side, met them in the middle in a way that was important, with the Commandant’s own children per se, THAT would have been something. It could have been so impactful but nothing ever happened. Reason for the 1/5: Banal characters, immensely unlikeable; plot-driven story to where there is no character-driven anything. There is no character growth. There is nothing for the audience to latch onto and care about. Most interesting part was the last minute of the film.