 Through creative editing, distinct camera angles, and slow motion, the surrealist film depicts a world in which it is more and more difficult to catch reality.In 1990, "Meshes of the Afternoon" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", going into the registry in the second year of voting.In 2015 the BBC named the film the 40th greatest American movie ever made.