Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

Where to Watch

Loading streaming options...

Screenwise Verdict

Look, this is an important film. Critically acclaimed, artistically groundbreaking, historically significant. Jonathan Glazer made something genuinely original about the Holocaust by showing how the perpetrators lived their cozy domestic lives while running a death camp.

But let's be crystal clear: this is NOT on Screenwise because it's appropriate for kids. It's here because parents need to know what it is so they can confidently say "absolutely not" when their teen asks to watch it after seeing it mentioned online.

The film is brilliant and harrowing—you hear genocide happening constantly in the background while watching a Nazi family plant flowers and celebrate birthdays. It's psychologically devastating by design. Even for mature high school seniors studying the Holocaust, this is probably too much. College students in a history or film class? Maybe. Adults who want to understand how ordinary people enable atrocity? Yes, but prepare yourself.

The WISE score is low because this simply isn't content for families or young people, despite its artistic merit. Sometimes the most important films are the ones we watch alone, as adults, when we're ready to sit with profound discomfort.

Age Fit

This is for college students and adults only—preferably in an academic or film-study context. The Common Sense rating of 13+ is absurdly low. Most high schoolers aren't ready for this level of psychological intensity, and it offers nothing for younger viewers.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

15

This film depicts the daily life of Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss and his family living beside Auschwitz concentration camp. While it doesn't glorify the Holocaust, the premise centers on characters who are perpetrating genocide while maintaining domestic normalcy. The emotional tone is deeply disturbing by design—showing the banality of evil. Not age-appropriate for children or teens, and certainly doesn't model kindness or cooperation in any conventional sense.

Imaginative

78

Highly original approach to Holocaust cinema—focusing on the perpetrators' domestic life rather than victims, using sound design to convey horror happening just off-screen. The film's artistic choices (static camera work, ambient audio of screams and gunshots) create a unique cinematic experience. Director Jonathan Glazer crafted something genuinely innovative in how it addresses historical atrocity. However, this is cerebral filmmaking for mature audiences, not imaginative in a way that invites exploration or creative play.

Safe

8

This is categorically NOT safe content for children or young teens. While the film avoids showing graphic violence on-screen, the constant ambient sounds of genocide (gunshots, screams, crematorium sounds) create pervasive psychological horror. The subject matter—Nazi officers living comfortably while running a death camp—is deeply disturbing. Common Sense Media rates it 13+, but that's extremely generous. This has significant trigger potential around Holocaust trauma, genocide, and moral depravity. The horror is psychological rather than visual, but no less intense.

Enriching

82

Critically acclaimed (93% RT critics, 92 Metacritic) for its unflinching examination of how ordinary people can participate in extraordinary evil. The film offers profound insights into complicity, moral blindness, and the compartmentalization of atrocity. For mature viewers (college-age and adults), this is deeply enriching—forcing confrontation with uncomfortable historical truths. However, its educational value is limited to older teens at minimum, and many adults will find it too harrowing. The enrichment comes at significant emotional cost.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Groundbreaking artistic approach to depicting the Holocaust—focusing on perpetrators' denial rather than victims' suffering
Exceptional sound design creates horror through what you hear but don't see—screams, gunshots, crematorium sounds bleeding into family picnics
For college students or adults studying history, ethics, or film: this offers profound insights into the banality of evil and moral complicity
Critics universally praised it (93% RT, 92 Metacritic) as essential cinema for understanding how ordinary people enable atrocity

⚠

What to Watch For

This is psychologically brutal—constant ambient sounds of genocide while the family gardens and throws birthday parties
Zero gore or graphic violence on-screen, but the horror is relentless and deeply disturbing
Common Sense says 13+ but that's wildly optimistic—this needs college-age maturity minimum, and even then it's heavy
Not entertainment in any conventional sense; this is art-house cinema meant to make you profoundly uncomfortable
If you have any personal or family connection to Holocaust trauma, proceed with extreme caution

Conversation Starters

"How do you think people convince themselves they're good while doing terrible things?"
"Why do you think the director chose to show the family's normal life instead of what was happening in the camp?"
"What does it mean that they could hear everything but chose to ignore it?"
"How does this film compare to other Holocaust movies you've studied in school?"

Ask Anything

Get a personalized guide on any topic

The Zone of Interest