The Grey Zone (2001) follows the Sonderkommando, a group of Jewish men who are forced to work in the crematoria of Auschwitz. The film was really well done and educational, it taught me a lot of things that I didn’t already know about the Holocaust.

The cinematography was impressive and fitting, with colour palettes that were bleak and reflected the tone. There were a lot of interesting camera techniques, and I liked the handheld parts a lot. Also, the slow zooms were very effective and added to the scenes in which they were used.

The sound design was well done too, and I found it to be very brooding. It helped to add to the intense sense of dread that is present throughout all of the film. The lack of score in some places was a good decision too and made the film feel more realistic.

The acting from everyone involved was phenomenal, and the dialogue was engaging and thought-provoking too. The characters were interesting, and I particularly liked the story of the old man, his story was horrifying. One of the best parts of the film was the final narration, it really moved me and will continue to haunt me.

Overall, this film was a brutal and realistic look at the Holocaust which I certainly will never forget. Understandably, there’s a lot of disturbing and hard to watch imagery that is very distressing. The shots in the train particularly stuck with me after watching. The movie finishes with an incredibly intense and heavy climax. I feel like this is a film everyone needs to see at least once as it really is informative and one of the best Holocaust films I’ve seen, if not THE best.