The Zone of Interest (2023) review

Zone of Interest opens with almost four minutes of pure black paired only with a haunting synth sound. I had to fast forward. Every frame looks clean and intentional. Static, centered, and framed with rule of thirds. It feels like carefully arranged tableaus na walang unnecessary movement. Yung continuation ng shots reminds me of old Resident Evil games, yung different camera angles sa bawat sulok ng room. Para syang perspective staging or static multi angle surveillance style. Parang CCTV where the camera watches from one corner while characters move through the space. Parang POV siya ng mga Nazis quietly living their normal daily lives, while the violence of the concentration camps happens in the background. Hindi pinapakita explicitly. Instead, they use sound design, like distant machinery, screams, gunshots, and ambient noise to imply what is happening off screen. It is super dull. Sobra! I watched it in four chunks on different days because I kept getting bored. It did not pull my attention. I was hoping there would be emotional attachment or at least a cinematic shift or something to break the flatness, but none. Everything stays numb, distant, and emotionally disconnected.