A long-neglected gem of feminist satire, Murdering the Devil is Czech costume and set designer Ester Krumbachová’s only output as director. An unnamed forty-something bachelorette (referred to only as “Her”) attempts to impress a ravenous engineer (the titular Mr. Devil) with a series of mouthwatering homemade dinners. To no one’s surprise, the man turns out to be a chauvinist boor, his comically insatiable appetite only good for instigating increasingly absurd fiascos. Krumbachová wrote the script from a 1968 radio play in collaboration with her by-then-ex-husband Jan Němec who, unamused by the film’s acerbic critique of patriarchal male gluttony, ended up proclaiming: “I don't know a dumber film … and I am very ashamed that I am signed as a co-writer.” The joke also landed tellingly flat with authorities and (male) critics. Krumbachová—who made all the featured food and props herself—spent the next ten years selling plastic jewelry, before finally being allowed back on set for Chytilová’s The Very Late Afternoon of a Faun in 1983. After decades of unfair disregard, Murdering the Devil was digitally restored in 2023.