A surrealist black comedy descending into a terrifying allegory as high-society guests find themselves psychologically trapped at a dinner party, their polished veneers cracking under pressure.
The Exterminating Angel
El ángel exterminador
"The degeneration of high society!"
Director:
Luis Buñuel
Cast:
Silvia Pinal, Enrique Rambal, Jacqueline Andere, José Baviera, Augusto Benedico
Drama
Fantasy
Comedy
The Exterminating Angel - Easter Eggs & Hidden Details
Easter Eggs
Woody Allen's 2011 film "Midnight in Paris" features a scene where the time-traveling protagonist suggests the plot of "The Exterminating Angel" to a young Luis Buñuel, who is perplexed by the idea and says it makes no sense.
This is a direct and playful homage to Buñuel and one of his most famously inexplicable films. It winks at the audience's own potential confusion and celebrates the surrealist nature of the plot, which even its creator (in the fictional context) can't comprehend.
The image of a severed, crawling hand recalls identical imagery in Buñuel's first film, "Un Chien Andalou" (1929), which he co-directed with Salvador Dalí.
This is a self-reference to Buñuel's surrealist origins. The hand is a recurring motif in his work, often symbolizing repressed desires, guilt, or the purely irrational. Its inclusion connects "The Exterminating Angel" to the broader surrealist movement and Buñuel's lifelong artistic obsessions.