La Mesita del Comedor (The Coffee Table)
There are times when you watch a film when the visceral nature of what you have just finished watching entirely rewrites your brain chemistry, and Caye Casas’ La Mesita del Comedor (The Coffee Table) is the film which best epitomises that experience.
Normally when I dive into a review for my website, I prefer to go in with full spoilers because discussing the content and events of the film is what gives me joy, I write for myself first and foremost. However, I am choosing to not spoil the events of this film purely because I believe that the best way to experience this film is by going in blind and knowing as little as possible.
Going into my first watch of this film, I had some expectations for an intense watch due to the reactions of a few of my fellow horror journalism friends. When I say that my expectations were entirely obliterated and left on the ground in a million pieces, that is barely scratching the surface. The director Caye Casas has managed to create a film which is a masterpiece in unrelenting tension which builds and builds to a crescendo that grips your face in its talons and screams at you “DO NOT LOOK AWAY”.
The film starts building tension from its opening scene, and never stops, leaving the viewer no time to catch their breath. The film opens on a couple in a furniture store who are looking to buy a new coffee table for their home, we also learn that they have recently become first time parents. In this opening scene we already get a great insight into the dynamic of this couple. Jesús (David Pareja) and Maria (Estefania de los Santos) are going back and forth about the coffee table purchase. They are standing in front of a very garish ornate glass coffee table, which the salesman (who clearly thinks the table is ugly) is doing his best to upsell. Maria is not falling for any of the salesman’s techniques, and is visibly perplexed that Jesús seems to be enamoured with this table that looks fit to be in a 1 percenter’s mansion that they only spend 2 months of the year in.
We quickly learn through the dialogue between Jesús, Maria, and the Salesman, that Jesús feels that he has no agency in his life. He gently complains about not having had a say in the name of his child, that Maria fully controlled their wedding, and that being able to get a coffee table that he alone wants is important to him. Although the words themselves are never said, we get the feeling that Jesús probably did not want to be a father, and perhaps he is also no longer happy in the relationship. Whilst this is the impression we are given about Jesús in the opening scene, we also feel that he is the type of man who does not know how to communicate how he really feels, and as such stays in a relationship that he is not happy in, leading to greater pain over time.
In a different film, the intricacies of Jesús and Maria’s relationship and its fallout would be explored in a slower film focusing on the human condition. La Mesita del Comedor (The Coffee Table) teases us into thinking that we will be witnessing that film, before shocking us with one unexpected and incredibly memorable moment, that is the catalyst for the building tension we are gripped with for the remainder of the film. I implore you to not look up the plot of this film and dive in with no previous knowledge, as I can guarantee that you will have an unrelenting experience with this gripping film. That being said, the specific content of this film will either make it a film that some people will absolutely love for not being afraid to tackle a very tough subject, whereas other people may come out of this film hating it for the same reason.
I am a strong believer that we should engage with films that challenge us (with the caveat that they are not hateful or bigoted), and Caye Casas has masterfully created a film in La Mesita del Comedor (The Coffee Table), that will challenge all viewers, and I personally think it is a great thing that this film is something which now exists for people to experience for themselves.
✦✦✦✦✦ 5/5 Stars
La Mesita del Comedor (The Coffee Table) is available for digital rental on AppleTV