Written and directed by Caye Casas, co-written by Cristina Borobia, Jesus and Maria are a couple going through a difficult time in their relationship. Nevertheless, they have just become parents. To shape their new life, they decide to buy a new coffee table. A decision that will change their existence. Starring: Estefanía de los Santos, David Pareja, Claudia Riera, Josep Riera, Itziar Castro, Emilio Gavira, Claudia Font, Gala Flores, Cristina Dilla and Paco Benjumea.

Let’s get the major issue out of the way first, this film is not for everyone, The Coffee Table is automatically going to be divisive because it has such an intensely dark and twisted sense of humour. So, if you’re not a person who enjoys black comedy or can’t see the levity among the tragedy, then you’re simply not going to enjoy it. For people who can let go and throw themselves into this absolutely warped tale, it’s a hell of a 90-minute ride.

It’s highly recommended to go into this knowing as little as possible because the key catalyst is so unbelievably messed up, that if you don’t know it’s coming then it’s a giant slap in the face, in a good way. The way that the story moves with each development is excellent, it is a touch slow but that’s used to feed the strong tension throughout. The opening dialogue has fantastic personality, there’s a lot of big, conflict heavy energy while building those initial comedy notes. The suspense is also superb, after a certain moment you can sort of see where it’s going but the potential for things to go even more wildly wrong is always lingering.

The tone, for everyone who does enjoy this kind of cinema, is pretty much pitch perfect. Visually, it has a thoughtful eye, adding plenty of details to come back around later. It’s also got a great handle on where the line is, it sincerely pushes but never goes too far and leaves the ultimate gore to your imagination. It manages that balance between being incredibly bleak and funny impressively well, it will suit horror fans best, those who see the entertainment in the violence, chaos and catastrophe. If you to go into this straight-faced, it’s utterly heart-breaking so the fact that Caye Casas and Cristina Borobia hold onto the hilarity in that devastation is outstanding.

Part of that is how much it asks of leading man David Pareja, to find the darkness he has to really throw himself into Jesús, to be completely convincing and he unquestionably is. The sheer amount of trauma this character goes through is genuinely harrowing, filling The Coffee Table with this gripping intensity. Estefanía de los Santos then takes that even further, the tension between them is fantastic and having her unknowingly pushing all the right buttons is brilliant. Claudia Riera, Josep Riera and Gala Flores, all then do a wonderful job of worsening the situation even more. Each of them feeds really nicely into the film’s comedic side.

The Coffee Table is the kind of film that you’ll either love it or hate it, but it’s without doubt one for horror fans. It is startlingly bleak, its sense of humour is beyond twisted and it may genuinely leave you speechless. The way that Caye Casas and Cristina Borobia have dug dark comedy gold out of their traumatic story is impressive. Casas’ directorial style is sharp, with a strong atmosphere, self-awareness and incredible intensity. It’s filled with tension and suspense, there’s a top-notch cast at work and it’s a film you’re not going to forget anytime soon.

Verdict: ✯✯✯✯ | 8/10

Set for a limited theatrical run beginning in Los Angeles at Laemmle Glendale on April 19, with further screenings to follow including in New York, Austin & Chicago
Also arriving on DVD & VOD May 14