The Exterminating Angel

"The degeneration of high society!"

1962 1h 33m ES

🙌

7.9

BANGER

★7.9TMDB · 774

ComedyDramaFantasy

Synopsis

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After a lavish dinner party, the guests find themselves unable to depart... and, over the next few days, all of their elaborate societal pretenses and façades deteriorate as they are reduced to living like animals.

“The degeneration of high society!”

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Cast

Silvia Pinal
Leticia 'La Valkiria'
Jacqueline Andere
Alicia Roc
Claudio Brook
Butler Julio
Enrique Rambal
Edmundo Nóbile
José Baviera
Leandro Gómez
Augusto Benedico
Dr. Carlos Conde
Luis Beristáin
Cristián Ugalde
Antonio Bravo
Sergio Russell

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Luis Buñuel
Writers: Luis Buñuel, Luis Alcoriza
Languages: Spanish
Countries: Mexico

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

64 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Luis Buñuel, shot by Gabriel Figueroa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Raúl Lavista. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Carlos Savage shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Silvia Pinal and Jacqueline Andere and Claudio Brook carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The degeneration of high society!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0056732 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Luis Buñuel directs. Gabriel Figueroa behind the camera. Raúl Lavista scores. Carlos Savage cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Mexico. Dialogue in Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

164 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Luis Buñuel, shot by Gabriel Figueroa. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Raúl Lavista. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Carlos Savage shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Silvia Pinal and Jacqueline Andere and Claudio Brook carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The degeneration of high society!".
7IMDB entry: tt0056732 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 15 themes, including "sheep", "quarantine", "upper class", "guest".
9Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Gabriel Figueroa
Original score: Raúl Lavista
Editing: Carlos Savage
Production design: Jesús Bracho
Costume design: Georgette Somohano
Makeup / hair: Esperanza Gómez
Sound: Galdino R. Samperio
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: ES
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Exterminating Angel (1962)

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Luis Buñuel

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-03-08
★ 7/10
This is not only one of my favourite Luis Buñuel features but it is up there amongst my top horror movies too - and there are precisely no spooks nor jump-scares at all. It’s a collection of the great and the good who have assembled for a lavish dinner party at the home of “Lucia” (Lucy Gallardo) and husband “Edmundo” (Enrique Rambal). We have already ascertained that there is quite a bit of unhappiness amongst their staff and so aren’t too surprised to learn that many of them have absconded before the meal is even served. That’s just the start of their evening/morning of misfortune as trivial mishaps accrue with what becomes alarming regularity. When the clock strikes four, the hosts realise that at such a late hour nobody has tried to go home. Are they all having such a great time? Well that isn’t likely to last when their deliveries don’t arrive in the morning and for some inexplicable reason nobody can manage to make their way to the front door. Despite the fact that they are hungry, thirsty and gradually turning on each other - with almost feral effects, they still seem incapable of breaking out. All the while, there is a growing crowd of public and police officers outside their palatial residence just as unable to go in! It might well be that it’s only “La Valkyria” (Silvia Pinal) - scorned by many of the guests for still being a virgin, who can find a way out of this self-imposed community imprisonment? Then again...? What makes this genuinely quite terrifying at times is the effect their captivity has on their behaviour. Their polite society soon degenerates into a sort of survival of the fittest - physically and intellectually. Their polite veneers are soon stripped away exposing hypocrisies galore amongst these ostensibly upstanding and Catholic citizens. What little trust there was amongst them is soon stretched to breaking point and for us watching, the sense that there is something supernatural dictating events is compellingly unnerving to watch. Imagine you need to walk through the door to your bathroom but your body, however desperate, just won’t allow your feet to move through the portal? This is creepy in a way I’ve never seen on screen before. Will they ever manage to break free, or will they for ever remain reduced to burning the furniture for warmth and maybe even forced to eat one of the lambs that have rather mercurially arrived amongst them? Perhaps it is allegorical of Franco’s Spanish government of the time? That regime could certainly have provide for fertile pastures of exploitation and religious double-standards that our “guests” or their contemporaries could be held responsible for; maybe it is just a sinister fantasy from an imaginative auteur or maybe a hybrid of both? Watch and see, but be prepared to feel distinctly uncomfortable.

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