Watching The Exterminating Angel was mostly frustrating for me and then post seeing it, compelling. Even knowing in advance not to get caught up in the “why” of it all, it was hard not to feel uneasy watching these characters spiral into helplessness and melodrama. Yet that discomfort feels intentional as Buñuel is often forcing his audience to confront how fragile civility really is. By this point in his work, his critique of the bourgeoisie and religion is pretty well established, but here he pushes it a bit further. The fact that the film largely takes place in one room only heightens the sense of confinement and absurdity. Through the character’s actions and inactions, he explores the decay of social ritual, the breakdown of logic and reality and the illusion of freedom. The repeated gestures and empty rituals within the group become almost religious in its meaninglessness showing superstition and blind faith. As hunger and fear take over, so does violence and desire, revealing the dark and selfish instincts that polite society often keep hidden. What stayed with me most was the title. Its of course used ironically but nonetheless, the idea of an “Exterminating Angel” as this unseen force that traps them and in doing so spiritually exterminates their moral pretensions to some degree feels very bold.