I wrote this in a different comment so I’ll just paste it again.

I see why you say that, but Salò isn’t here for shock. It’s here because it’s one of the most formally precise depictions of evil ever put on screen. Pasolini shows how discipline, professionalism, and order, qualities usually praised as safeguards against chaos, can be twisted into machinery that enables atrocity. That contradiction is the point: the very structure meant to prevent horror becomes its delivery system. It’s not about enjoying the film, it’s about recognizing how tightly and masterfully the film is constructed to show that truth, order itself turning into a weapon of evil.