NOW ON VOD! The Coffee Table is a Spanish black comedy directed by Caye Casas and co-written by Casas and Cristina Borobia. It stars David Pareja as Jesús and Estefanía de los Santos as his wife, María. The story begins with domestic complications as the new parents are in a furniture store debating whether to buy the world’s tackiest coffee table. What seems like a minor scrap between the two turns into the worst decision they could possibly make. The couple are clearly struggling.
María is older than Jesús and has just reached a long-desired milestone of having a baby. She is over the moon about being a mother, but Jesús seems less enthusiastic about their new life. While shopping for furniture, Jesús points out that he has very little agency in their day-to-day life. She’s taken absolute control of their environment, having chosen the color of their apartment. Plus, it was her idea to have a child. María, in her drive to create a perfect atmosphere for child-rearing, has determined every detail. She even chose the baby’s name without his input.
“She is over the moon about being a mother, but Jesús seems less enthusiastic about their new life.“
Jesús wants the coffee table and holds out for it as the only expression of himself in the tightly controlled tapestry of their life. María capitulates but with enormous contempt toward him and the table. The table, at least, deserves her derision. It is gaudy and awful, with pedestals made of gilded topless female figures holding up a glass top. The salesman assures them that owning such a glorious artifact will change their lives. He’s not wrong.
At this point in The Coffee Table, the viewer knows something is coming, as we’ve yet to see anything out of the ordinary. There’s a brief but icky interaction with neighbors as Jesús and María move the hotly contested coffee table into their apartment. The neighbor’s teenage daughter insists that she and Jesús are in love and having a torrid affair. While the adults laugh it off, she’s serious. But even this is not the moment.
"…horror served with a mean little edge of snarky humor..."
