The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer’s 2023 Holocaust drama about a Nazi commandant’s family living beside Auschwitz, uses almost no music inside the film itself — a deliberate choice that makes composer Mica Levi’s contribution one of the most unusual scores of the year.
Quick Facts
| Title | The Zone of Interest |
| Director | Jonathan Glazer |
| Composer | Mica Levi |
| Score length | Approximately 14 minutes |
| Recognition | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music |
Score & Composer
Mica Levi reunited with Glazer for their second collaboration after 2013’s Under the Skin. Levi’s music totals only about 14 minutes for the entire film — nearly 10 of those minutes bookend the story in the opening and closing black-screen sequences, with the rest of the film left almost entirely without score. Levi has described the process as figuring out where music didn’t belong: “It was very hard to put music to it. It became too leading, and after a while [the film] started to tell you what worked and what didn’t.” The opening overture is a roiling wash of synths and distorted voices that descend steadily in pitch, evoking a sense of weightlessness and dread before a single image appears onscreen.
Where to Stream
The Zone of Interest is available on Prime Video and other digital platforms. Levi’s score can be searched on Apple Music and Spotify under “The Zone of Interest.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Who composed The Zone of Interest?
Mica Levi composed the score, their second collaboration with director Jonathan Glazer after Under the Skin.
Why is there so little music in The Zone of Interest?
Glazer and Levi deliberately minimized score, using it almost exclusively to bookend the film, so the sound design of everyday domestic life beside the camp carries the film instead.
How long is the score?
Levi’s music totals roughly 14 minutes across the entire film.
Did the score win any awards?
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association gave Levi its award for Best Music for the score.
Related reading: Browse more movie and TV soundtrack guides or the A2Z Soundtrack streaming hub.
Last I heard/read, Mica Levi’s preferred pronoun is “they.”