Upon finishing a formal bourgeoise dinner and a lavish evening with highly cultured friends with deep pockets no less, guests find they can't leave the party. No matter what they do, they are unable to step out of the hall room. What on earth is going on?

Every now and then we are hindered by many predicaments. We are stuck somewhere but we are needed to be elsewhere. But the work in hand must be completed first. From such dilemmas arises discomfort and from that discomfort, fury. Fury then bleeds into frustration. It's not as if anyone is forcing us down, binding us to servitude — no, we are forcing those rules unto ourselves. We essentially set our own limitations. These rules are telluric, tangible, and man-governed.

In The Exterminating Angel, it's not like that. Invited guests DO want to return to their homes. Everyone is up and ready to leave. But then... some of them sit down, some walk back languidly, examine the furniture, some lay down — on the sofa, on the floor — wherever they can. Muscles are loosed, tender, and the goddess of slumber made homes on their eyes. Are they really tired that much? Perhaps. Hard to say.

Morning light breaks out. Still, no one left, and no hurry can be noticed. At one point they realize, not one of them is able to depart the big room they are in. They discuss it in a hushed tone at first, but when disbelief turns to shock, they openly vow to break free of the invisible bond — only to fail miserably. Strong determinations and fierce willpower turn to dust once they reach the door.

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But the clock is ticking away. However big the room is, it can still feel like a lockup for 14-15 people. All of them ate at the party last night. There were some left-overs, that's finished as well. The plates are shining empty. Now the water too is gone. With food and the illusion of freedom gone, the bourgeoisie, whose lives are filled with meaningless noble etiquettes — slowly turn to their primal instincts, their basest selves.

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The Exterminating Angel is an avant-garde surreal art film by one of the artists of the surreal movement Luis Buñuel. Buñuel made a bunch of surreal films but he's often very minimalistic. He doesn't need any special effects to make his cinema imaginative, unreal, fantasy. And to be honest, special effects aren't necessary either. Take Tarkovsky's 'zone' (Stalker) for an example. That place became unassailable, remote, and mysterious because of the mastery the filmmaker possessed, not special effects as he used none.
In this film by Buñuel, the hall room acts in the same way — simple yet fantastic.

Buñuel never explained what he meant by the film or what the name of the exterminating angel implies. But there are many interpretations online. I will not go into those.
But my take is — Bunuel wanted to rip off the masks or outer layers of those pretending shapeshifter bourgeoisie. And the exterminating angel is the force that binds them to that hall room and exterminates their outer layers.

Along with being one of the finest films of film history, The Exterminating Angel is actually a pretty fun movie to watch. I think everyone will have something to take from it. Can't recommend it enough!

Happy watching!