The Big Picture
The Coffee Table
is a unique horror film that focuses on psychological terror rather than gore and intense visuals, earning a shoutout from Stephen King on social media.
The film’s plot revolves around a couple dealing with the aftermath of a tragic incident involving their baby, and the contrast between the horrific event and mundane life elements adds a darkly comedic aspect.
The Coffee Table
is a stressful and uncomfortable movie that forces viewers to use their imagination, making it a memorable and nerve-racking experience.
Horror has many subgenres. Perhaps you like slashers, creature features, or stories of demonic possession. If you like your horror painted red, there are splatter films like Ichi the Killer, Hostel, and the Saw franchise to satisfy your bloodthirst. Sometimes, however, horror goes even darker, with tales so gory and twisted that you can’t believe someone actually thought it up and was allowed to make it. Cannibal Holocaust, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, and A Serbian Filmare near sadistic in their intensity, and can only be withstood by the most hardcore of fans. There is now a new member to this gruesome club with the Spanish film The Coffee Table. Co-written with Cristina Borobia and directed by Caye Casas, The Coffee Table isn’t a movie with a high body count, lots of intense gore, or physical torture. No, Casas does something more frightening by torturing our minds until it drives us to a panic attack. It’s not hyperbole to say that The Coffee Table is one of the most stressful, uncomfortable movies ever made, one so messed up that even the master of horror himself, Stephen King, said of the film “My guess is you have never, not once in your whole life, seen a movie as black as this one. ”
The Coffee Table
In the heart of a bustling city, a quaint coffee shop becomes the unlikely crossroads for a diverse group of individuals. Each customer, from a struggling writer to a love-struck couple, finds solace and unexpected connections around a vintage coffee table that holds stories of its own.
Release Date March 14, 2024
Director Caye Casas
Cast David Pareja , Estefania de los Santos , Josep Maria Riera , Claudia Riera , Eduardo Antuna , Gala Flores , Cristina Dilla , Itziar Castro
Runtime 91 Minutes
Writers Cristina Borobia , Caye Casas
Just Knowing the Plot of ‘The Coffee Table’ Is Almost Too Much To Take
The Coffee Table stars David Pareja and Estefanía de los Santos as Jesús and María, a couple in their 40s who have just had their first child, a baby boy named Cayetano. From the moment we meet them, we can see that Jesús and María aren’t getting along, with the pressures of parenthood adding to the tension that likely existed between them before Cayetano’s arrival. The couple are in a furniture store, with Jesús wanting to buy a coffee table he’s had his eye on. It’s admittedly a gaudy piece of furniture, with its glass top and legs made out of gold-colored nude women. María hates it and isn’t afraid to tell Jesús so, but her beau comes back at her about how she gets the last say on everything, and he wants to make this decision. María eventually gives in and lets Jesús have his ugly coffee table, all the while constantly reminding him how much she hates it. If you don’t know the plot going in, but you know that the film is labeled as a shocker that’s going to make you sick, you now can’t take your eyes off that table. If they named the movie after it, something truly horrible is in store. What perverted, gross act is it going to be used for? Whatever you’re imagining, it’s much worse.
There’s no way to discuss it without spoiling the inciting incident, so if you’re not familiar, prepare yourself, because here it comes. When Jesús and María get back to their apartment, María decides to go out and pick up a few groceries, giving the couple some much-needed time apart. Jesús stays at home with Cayetano and wants to put the coffee table together but discovers that it’s missing a screw. He leaves the glass top propped up against the unfinished piece as he goes to his crying son and holds him, carrying him around the house to get him to calm down. The camera holds on a hallway as Jesús takes his son into the living room. Excruciating seconds pass by before there is a sudden crash and the sound of breaking glass, along with the gut-wrenching immediate stop of crying. When the camera finds Jesús in the living room, he and the table are covered in blood, with Jesús looking down at Cayetano with a look of paralyzed shock on his face. At his feet lies his son, dead and headless, the top of him having rolled underneath the chair.A similar scene in Hereditary is child’s play compared to this one. Are you still here?
‘The Coffee Table’ Is a Shocking Horror Movie Done Differently
Understandably, many people aren’t going to want to watch a horror movie about a decapitated baby. If it makes it any easier to stomach, The Coffee Table handles its difficult subject matter with care. While we get a few shots of what’s left of poor Cayetano’s body, it’s not overly graphic, and his head is shown only in distorted shadows or not at all. You’re not getting Evil Dead Rise levels of blood of blood here. With its already controversial plotline, making it into a splatter film would’ve been too much even for the biggest gorehounds. Cayes Casas sat down with Variety and explained his intent, saying:
“I was clear that I did not want to make a gore film, and I was clear that imagination is an important weapon that the public has. Why show certain things when in your thinking it could be worse? You have to make the viewer’s mind work, sometimes less is more, and imagining what is happening is sometimes stronger than seeing it. It was very clear that some scenes were going to be shot out of frame, so that they could be seen as little as possible, the audience already knows that what happened is horrible.”
3:10
Related Stephen King Called This Classic Scene the Scariest Moment in Horror History
And it’s not even from an adaptation of one of his books.
Putting the terror in your mind and forcing you to imagine it is the best kind of horror. The Coffee Table could have gone the gore route, but no practical effects would be able to compare to what’s playing in our attached heads. Many shock films have gone for the intense visuals. Cannibal Holocaust looked so real that the director had to go to court to prove that he had not killed his actors in a snuff film. A Serbian Film shows images so brutal that it’s tough to even talk about them without feeling gross. The Coffee Table works by going with the less is more route, which worked for classics such as Jaws and The Blair Witch Project. It rips you apart not by going through your eyes, but by aiming right for your soul.
‘The Coffee Table’ Is So Horrifying That It Makes You Laugh
Look at descriptions of The Coffee Table and you’ll see it listed as horror, drama, and comedy. It’s for sure a horror film, and a drama as well, with this being a movie that’s heavy on dialogue and takes place mostly in one setting of an apartment. If the plot wasn’t so demented, you could see The Coffee Table being a play. But a comedy? What in the world is there to laugh about when it comes to a dead baby?! Stephen King pointed out the humorous aspects of the film, saying “It’s horrible and also horribly funny. Think the Coen Brothers’ darkest dream.”
Is The Coffee Table black? Oh, yes. Is it horrible? Yep, but not in the sense of it being bad because it’s actually very good. But funny?! As shameful as it might be to admit it, The Coffee Table is rather funny, but not in the way you might expect. There’s no bad physical comedy as if it’s a super fucked up Weekend at Bernie’s. King’s comparison to the Coen brothers is an apt one. Some of their best films, such as Fargo and No Country for Old Men, deal with very serious subjects like murder, but the intensity of the plot mixed either with the contrast of mundane real life or the eccentric behaviors of certain characters will make you laugh. That’s how The Coffee Table works.
After the incident, Jesús spends much of the rest of the runtime trying to figure out how to keep the news from María. He’s losing his mind, coming up with every excuse possible to keep her away from the baby who lies in bed in the next room, while she laughs and talks about normal everyday things. It gets even worse when his brother (Josep Maria Riera) and his new girlfriend (Claudia Riera) come over for dinner. On top of that, his daily life goes on, with the pushy salesman making a visit, or the bothersome teenage girl who lives upstairs flirting with him. Meanwhile, he’s covered in blood that he says is paint. That contrast of the worst moment imaginable with the monotony of life is so absurd that you can’t help but chuckle. That laughter is necessary, as it lets out the emotion building up. If you hold it in, you’ll go mad.
Although you can call The Coffee Table a black comedy, it’s still above all else a ruthless tragedy. It’s a torturous countdown clock to the end and the moment when María finds out the truth that will destroy her. Watching it get there and not knowing how it’s going to play out makes for the most nerve-racking film experience of your life. If you have your own coffee table at home, you might want to get rid of it, because you’ll never be able to look at it the same way again.
The Coffee Table is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.
Rent on Amazon