The spirit of Buñuel hovers smilingly over this film; all that is missing is Fernando Rey in the cast of this "grotesque fable with social connotations," in the director's words. A father, his three grown sons, and a faithful maid retire to a country house, where the men become increasingly idle, drifting gradually into days of endless slumber. The maid has to do everything for them. The youngest son imagines work to be a very romantic proposition but is encouraged to stop thinking and go back to sleep. Even the opportunity for an affair with the maid can barely arouse him. "Allegory, black comedy, social criticism...all these describe but hardly convey the richness and humor of this tale...The sleeper of the year!" (Chicago '78)