Which 1962 Luis Buñuel film traps wealthy dinner guests in a room they cannot leave?

Luis Buñuel’s 1962 film trapping wealthy dinner guests in a room they cannot leave is The Exterminating Angel.

The film follows an apparently elegant dinner party whose guests discover that, for no clear physical reason, they cannot cross the threshold of the room. Days pass, social manners collapse, and the group’s polished public behavior gives way to fear, conflict, and desperation.

Buñuel uses the impossible situation as a Surrealist device rather than explaining it through conventional fantasy rules. The guests are physically capable of leaving, but some psychological or social barrier prevents them from doing so. That contradiction exposes the fragility of their class identity and etiquette.

The film was made in Mexico and is based on a play by Buñuel’s friend José Bergamín. It is often confused with The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Buñuel’s later 1972 film, which also satirizes wealthy social rituals.