“The Coffee Table” - Film Review
We all have hills we’re willing to die on in a relationship. For Jesus (David Pareja) and María (Estefanía de los Santos), it’s the titular coffee table in The Coffee Table. It’s a gaudy piece of furniture that Jesus is desperate to buy. He claims it’s the only thing he’s ever gotten to choose in the entirety of their relationship. After the birth of their son, who Jesus wasn’t sure they were ready for, María agrees that he can make this decision about the coffee table. From the time Jesus single-handedly carries it up multiple flights of stairs and into the living room of their new apartment, the coffee table brings nothing but horror into their lives. The Coffee Table is a ninety-minute exercise in Murphy’s Law: what can go wrong will go wrong. Each new turn of the screw adds to The Coffee Table’s overwhelming feeling of dread and loss.
Director and co-writer Caye Casas describes his intentions with The Coffee Table as wanting to make “one of the cruelest films ever made, one that people cannot forget.” From that description, a viewer might be bracing for violence and gore; for some sort of intense imagery that will make viewers squeeze their eyes shut. The Coffee Table does have a singular moment of blood, but what makes it succeed is that the moment where things take a turn for the absolute worst isn’t seen in totality. The audience is forced to put together the pieces on their own and endure their minds wandering to one of the worst-case scenarios a parent could experience.
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The Coffee Table is a horror movie, but there is no demon around the corner and there is no exorcism that could solve the problems of Jesus and María. A horrible experience is going to take place in their living room with entirely ordinary people and ordinary objects. It’s the simplicity and claustrophobic nature of the series of events that forces the audience to be on edge. Casas admits that it’s not a film for the faint of heart, but it’s not gore or monsters that viewers must steel themselves for. Instead, The Coffee Table mines the anxiety that comes with one minor misstep, a trip over a coffee table, something everyone has likely done, and shows the worst possible outcome of such a small moment in time.
This film is a terrible way to spend ninety minutes in the sense that, by choosing to watch the movie, you’re signing up for an hour-and-a-half of a relentless anxiety attack. An anxiety attack that is expertly shot, paced, and edited, but an anxiety attack nonetheless. The chaotic tension of something like Uncut Gems is child’s play compared to this. If it isn’t already clear, The Coffee Table is an anxiety-inducing nightmare.
Even though this may come at the risk of being a spoiler, and The Coffee Table does work best knowing as little as possible, it should be noted that this film’s anxiety and drama come with the sudden, intense loss of a baby.
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