This film easily ranks among my favorite Luis Buñuel movies, and also sits high on my list of horror films – remarkable considering there aren't any typical scares or jump moments. A group of prominent individuals have gathered for a fancy dinner party at the home of “Lucia” (Lucy Gallardo) and her husband "Edmundo" (Enrique Rambal). We quickly discover that their staff is unhappy, so it’s not entirely unexpected when many of them leave before the meal even begins. That's only the start of an evening/morning filled with misfortune as minor problems steadily build into something alarming. Once four o’clock arrives, the hosts notice that no one has attempted to leave at such a late hour. Are they all enjoying themselves so much? It doesn’t seem likely when their deliveries don't arrive in the morning and, for some reason, nobody can reach the front door. Despite feeling hungry and thirsty, and gradually turning on each other – almost like animals—they appear unable to escape. Meanwhile, a growing crowd of onlookers and police officers stands outside their large house, equally unable to get inside! Perhaps it’s “La Valkyria” (Silvia Pinal) — who is disliked by many of the guests for still being a virgin — who can find a way out of this self-imposed confinement? Or maybe not...? What makes this truly frightening at times is how their captivity affects their behavior. Their refined manners quickly give way to a struggle for survival—both physically and mentally. The facades they present are stripped away, revealing hypocrisy among these seemingly respectable and Catholic citizens. Any trust that existed between them soon reaches its limit, and as viewers, we feel an unsettling sense that something supernatural is controlling events. Imagine needing to walk through the doorway to your bathroom, but your body simply won’t allow you to move forward? This is a level of creepiness I've never encountered on screen before. Will they ever manage to escape, or will they be forever reduced to burning furniture for warmth and perhaps even forced to eat one of the lambs that have mysteriously appeared among them? It could be interpreted as an allegory for Franco’s Spanish government at the time; that regime certainly provided ample opportunities for exploitation and religious hypocrisy that their “guests” or their contemporaries might be held accountable for. Or maybe it's just a dark fantasy from a creative filmmaker, or perhaps a combination of both? Watch and see, but prepare to feel uneasy.

Source on TMDB