What actually happens
Four wealthy men arrange marriages and collect captives
The film is split into four sections, and the first is set in 1944 in the fascist Italian Social Republic. Four wealthy men, called the Duke, the Bishop, the Magistrate and the President, settle on marrying one another's daughters, which is the opening step of their ritual of excess. They decide the daughters will serve as servants at their mansion and will be kept completely naked at all times. The men then recruit four teenage boys named Bruno, Fabrizio, Claudio and Ezio as guards, and four young soldiers whom they call studs. Guards and secret police go out and round up young captives, and nine boys and nine girls end up at a villa near Marzabotto. A boy among them tries to run away and is shot dead.
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The first days at the villa
Four middle-aged women, also collaborators, are at the villa to arrange entertainments for the four men. Over the following days the libertines make their captives suffer increasingly cruel humiliations. At breakfast the daughters come in naked to serve the food. Efisio, one of the studs, trips and rapes the Duke's elder daughter Liana in front of everyone. The fascists and collaborators laugh at her screams, except Ezio, who is quietly upset. The President then orders Efisio to have sex with him, while the Duke sings. Later the dead boy who tried to escape is shown to the crowd. Two captives, Sergio and Renata, are forced to marry after one of the studs and Signora Vaccari sexually abuse them, and the President and the Duke then rape them. On another day the captives are made to behave like dogs, and when Lamberto refuses the Magistrate whips him. The Magistrate also feeds the President's daughter Susanna a slice of polenta that has nails in it.
Humiliations at the villa
The third section opens with Signora Maggi telling the household about her difficult childhood and her fixation on feces. She also describes killing her own mother during an argument about her work as a prostitute. Renata cries as she listens, because it reminds her of how her own mother was murdered. The Duke is aroused by the sound and tells Efisio and the guards to strip her. Renata pleads with God to let her die, and the Duke makes her eat his excrement from a spoon. At a mock wedding feast for the Magistrate and Sergio, the captives are given a meal made of human feces, which the studs, the women and the four men eat without comment. In a search for the captive with the most beautiful buttocks, with instant death as the reward, Franco is picked. The Bishop then admits he never meant to grant the prize and has a more painful death planned for him later.
The last section: who is called and who is spared
In the last section, a mock religious wedding takes place between the studs and the libertines, who wear women's clothes. The Bishop questions the captives in their rooms, and they start informing on each other: Claudio reveals that Graziella has hidden a photograph, and Graziella tells on Eva and Antiniska for having a secret affair. Umberto replaces Ezio, whom Antiniska betrays for sleeping with a maid. When Ezio says he is a communist, the libertines shoot him dead. The remaining captives are summoned so the men can decide who will be punished and who may come with them back to Salò. Graziella is spared for betraying the others, and Rino is spared because of his submissive bond with the Duke. Those who are called get a blue ribbon and a sentence of painful death. This is the scene to brace for, and it comes near the end. The sentenced captives are taken outside and raped, tortured and killed, with the libertines watching from the villa through binoculars. The pianist, horrified by what she sees, jumps from a window and dies.
The ending, explained
As the torture goes on outside, the film ends with a scene between two of the young guards. Bruno and Claudio dance a waltz together, and Claudio asks Bruno the name of his girlfriend back home. Bruno answers that her name is Margherita. The captives who were called with blue ribbons are tortured and killed, the pianist dies after jumping from a window, and Graziella and Rino are spared for betraying their fellow captives and submitting to the Duke. Ezio and the boy who tried to escape were shot earlier.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom scary?
Yes, Salò is a 9 out of 10. The dread level is persistent, and the fear comes from sustained sexual violence, torture and humiliation of teenagers by men with total power, with no jump scares to break it up.
How does Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom end?
The captives who are called with blue ribbons are tortured and killed outside while the four men watch through binoculars. The film closes on two young guards dancing a waltz.
Does the dog die in Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom?
No, no dog dies in Salò. The cruelty in the film is aimed at people.
Is there a post-credits scene in Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom?
No. Salò has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Who are the four libertines in Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom?
They are the Duke, the Bishop, the Magistrate and the President, four wealthy fascists in 1944 Italy who agree to marry each other's daughters and then take young captives to a villa near Marzabotto.
