The Coffee Table is a 2022 Spanish comedy horror film in which a middle-aged couple, blessed with a newborn baby, buys a gaudy coffee table, a decision that will dramatically change their lives.
Directed and edited by Caye Casas (Killing God, 2017) from a screenplay co-written with Cristina Borobia.Produced by Norbert Llaràs and Maria José Serra. Executive produced by Diego Rodriguez and Coque Serrano.
The Alhena Production-Apocalipsis Producciones-La Charito Films
co-production stars David Pareja, Estefanía de los Santos, Eduardo Antuña, Paco Benjumea, Itziar Castro, Cristina Dilla, Gala Flores, Clàudia Font, Emilio Gavira, Claudia Riera, Josep Riera and Josep Maria Riera.
Reviews:
“The Coffee Table is a critique of familial relationships and how we orchestrate our own misfortune and destruction. As the audience tries to anticipate how events will unfold, the filmmakers find ways to play on the anticipations in a dark and twisted way, especially in the final act. Even as we’re laughing, we appreciate how f***ed up it all is, but it’s so wickedly funny we can only hope for absolution later.” 4 out of 5, Dirty Movies
“The Coffee Table takes a critical look at family relationships and how we often orchestrate our own unhappiness and destruction. I might have expected a little more from the ending, but it was one of the better films I could see at the festival.” De Film Blog [translated from Dutch]
“The Coffee Table is all about dramatic tension, and that’s where it almost, but not quite, reaches Hitchcockian levels. If I must quibble — and I must because that’s what I do — I’d say the only part of the movie that falters is the final plot revelation, which doesn’t quite ring true.” Grade: B+ The Grouchy Editor
” …instead of investing in the dangerous proximity of those ignorant of such a macabre item, Caye prefers to keep our attention almost entirely focused on the suffering Jesus. It’s as if for a good part of the film he is torn apart by a kind of clairvoyance, as he is anticipating the storm that will soon fall over his existence. This itinerary in which the camera relentlessly emphasises the ruined face of this subject is quite ingenious, whose sweaty face demonstrates the physical responses to the panorama that is coming.” Papa de Cinema [translated from Portuguese]
“The Coffee Table is a genre-leaping marvel. Now a farce, now a melodrama, now a tragedy, it is uproariously funny until it is not at all – and its willingness to break one of cinema’s last taboos ensures that the viewer shares Jésus’ dazed state of shock and denial, unable quite to believe that what is known to have happened really has happened. […] The tension is constant and palpable, with the horror absurd and the laughs uneasy.” Projected Figures
“This is not for the faint of heart! Highly uncomfortable, prompts an “I can’t believe what I am seeing and I’m not sure I want to see what lies ahead” response.” 4 out of 5, The Scariest Things
Release:
The movie had its world premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (winner, Best Film, Rebels with a Cause) as well as the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (winner, White Raven Prize) and Fantapoa Fest.
The Coffee Table was released on VOD by Cinephobia Releasing in March 2024 and will be available on VOD in the UK on May 20, 2024.
Trailer:
UK trailer:
Filming locations:
Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Original title:
La mesita del comedor “The dining room table”
Technical specs:
1 hour 31 minutes
