Béla Tarr practices a style known as "slow cinema." He uses incredibly long, meticulously choreographed tracking shots (some lasting over 10 minutes) to force the viewer into the same temporal reality as the characters. You feel the mud on your boots. You feel the endless, dripping rain. You feel the boredom, the hope, and the crushing betrayal.

The film’s title refers to the Tango. The narrative structure mimics the dance: 12 chapters (the 12 steps of the tango) that move forward, then backtrack to show the same events from another character’s perspective. The “Satan” part alludes to the cyclical, hopeless nature of the trap these characters live in.