The Grey Zone

The Grey Zone is set in Auschwitz in 1944, where a group of Jewish prisoners serves in the twelfth Sonderkommando, one of the special squads the Nazis forced to assist in the extermination of their fellow Jews. In exchange for this work, the men receive food, minor privileges and a few extra months of life before they too are killed. Aware of their situation, they plan an armed revolt. Their plans are complicated when they find a young girl who has survived the gas chamber, and some of the men become determined to save her, even at the risk of the uprising.

Tim Blake Nelson wrote and directed the film, which followed his debut O in the same year and came long before later works such as Leaves of Grass and Anesthesia. The cast includes David Arquette, Steve Buscemi, Michael Stuhlbarg, Allan Corduner and Daniel Benzali, with 36 credited cast members in all. The production had a budget of 5 million dollars and was made by companies including Millennium Media and Killer Films.

The film holds a rating of 7 out of 10 on IMDb from around 12,000 votes and a rating of 6.6 out of 10 on TMDB from a much smaller number of votes. Its critics' rating stands at 7.2 out of 10 from 86 reviews, close to the audience scores.