{{short description|2006 film by Jean-Claude Brisseau}} {{About|the 2006 erotic drama film|other uses|Exterminating Angel (disambiguation){{!}}Exterminating Angel}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox film | name = The Exterminating Angels | native_name = {{Infobox name module|fr|Les Anges exterminateurs}} | image = The Exterminating Angels poster.png | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Jean-Claude Brisseau | writer = Jean-Claude Brisseau | producer = {{Plainlist| * Milena Poylo * Gilles Sacuto }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Frédéric van den Driessche * Maroussia Dubreuil * Lise Bellynck * Marie Allan }} | cinematography = Wilfrid Sempé | editing = María Luisa García | music = Jean Musy | studio = {{Plainlist| * La Sorcière Rouge * TS Productions }} | distributor = Rézo Films | released = {{Film date|df=yes|2006|5|20|Cannes|2006|9|13|France}} | runtime = 100 minutes | country = France | language = French | budget = | gross = $154,210<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0792948/ |title=The Exterminating Angels (2006) |website=Box Office Mojo |access-date=14 April 2022}}</ref> }} '''''The Exterminating Angels''''' ({{langx|fr|Les Anges exterminateurs}}) is a 2006 French erotic drama film written and directed by Jean-Claude Brisseau. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 2006 and received a limited release in the United States on 7 March 2007. The film is about a director named François who embarks on a film project about female eroticism. He meets three struggling actresses who perform sexual acts in front of him. What François does not realise is that there is a lot more going on in the girls' heads than other parts and this leads to tragic consequences.
The film is semi-autobiographical; in 2002, director Brisseau had been arrested on charges of harassment, fined and given a suspended one-year prison sentence. The plaintiffs were three women who had performed sexual acts in front of him during their audition.<ref name="Burr2007">{{cite web|last=Burr |first=Ty |title=As eroticism, 'Angels' doesn't fly |date=2007-03-16 |accessdate=2008-11-11 |work=The Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=9794|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070906214410/http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=9794|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 September 2007}}</ref>
The soundtrack for the film was composed by Jean Musy.
==Cast== * Frédéric van den Driessche as François * Maroussia Dubreuil as Charlotte * Lise Bellynck as Julie * Marie Allan as Stéphanie * Raphaële Godin as Apparition 1 / Rebecca * Margaret Zenou as Apparition 2 * Sophie Bonnet as Nathalie * Jeanne Cellard as the grandmother * Virginie Legeay as Virginie * Estelle Galarme as Olivia * Marine Danaux as Agnès * Apolline Louis as Céline * François Négret as Stéphanie's friend
==Production== On 31 October 2007, two actresses, one of whom stars in ''The Exterminating Angels'', accused Brisseau of rape, sexual assault and harassment for a period from August 2005 to September 2007. Marie Allan, then aged 29, accused the director of having abused her during erotic "castings", carried out face to face and without a camera, in public places or at Brisseau's home. According to her, Brisseau would have promised a leading role in one of his films and asked for that to work these intimate scenes. The same accusations came from another actress, then aged 21, who said she suffered a "digital" rape by the filmmaker. Brisseau only admitted to having had a consensual sexual relationship with the first actress. A judicial investigation was opened, the man was heard as an assisted witness, but the procedure was abandoned for lack of evidence to establish "non-consent".<ref>{{cite web |author=Agence France-Presse |author-link=Agence France-Presse |title=Jean-Claude Brisseau, soupçonné de viols, a été entendu comme "témoin assisté" |work=Libération |language=fr |url=https://www.liberation.fr/societe/2007/12/22/jean-claude-brisseau-soupconne-de-viols-a-ete-entendu-comme-temoin-assiste_7408/ |access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref>
== Reception == {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|49|5.6|45|Explicit and shocking, but there is no substance or statement on human behavior underneath the taboo-breaking.|ref=yes|access-date={{RT data|access date}}}} {{Metacritic film prose|54|16|ref=yes|access-date=5 November 2025}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0792948}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes|id=exterminating_angels}}
{{Jean-Claude Brisseau}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Exterminating Angels, The}} Category:2006 films Category:2006 drama films Category:2006 LGBTQ-related films Category:2000s erotic drama films Category:2006 French-language films Category:Drama films based on actual events Category:Films about film directors and producers Category:Films directed by Jean-Claude Brisseau Category:French erotic drama films Category:French films based on actual events Category:French LGBTQ-related films Category:Lesbian-related films Category:2000s LGBTQ-related drama films Category:2006 French films Category:French-language erotic drama films Category:2006 erotic films