Launched in 2018, Time Out’s list of the best films attempts to do the impossible and pare down the canon of classic movies to just a hundred films. It’s been read by many millions of film lovers, sparked debates, provoked angry letters, and hopefully provided a handy viewing guide for umpteen movie nights around the world.
The list embraces diverse film cultures, styles and eras of cinema. From Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey to Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy, via Pixar’s Toy Story and ’90s lo-fi horror sensation The Blair Witch Project, you’ll find every genre and taste represented.
We don’t mess with it often – Jordan Peele’s 2017 genre-redefining horror Get Out is the most recent release on the list – which is why it’s a big deal that Jonathan Zone’s Oscar-winning Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest has just joined this cine-pantheon.
Greatness comes with longevity, of course, but we’re confident that Glazer’s extraordinary yet unnervingly ordinary vision of evil at work and at home will only grow more pointed and powerful with the passing of time.
Not just a great Holocaust movie that’s right up there with Shoah and Night and Fog, but a bold and contemporary-feeling call to arms against totalitarian oppression, it created a cultural moment at the 2024 Academy Awards and a cinematic one for anyone who caught it on the big screen. Composer Micah Levi and sound designer Johnnie Burn’s eerie, disorientating soundscapes alone will take years to dislodge.
Head here to find out where The Zone of Interest ranks among the greats, and to peruse the list in full.
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