Shudder Saturday: The Coffee Table (2023)

There is a very famous quote from Alfred Hitchcock about the difference between surprising an audience and keeping them in suspense. An explosion can surprise and shock people, but showing them the bomb being placed under a table will have viewers tense while they wait for the inevitable to happen. The Coffee Table has both elements, but it's only the explosion that is mildly effective. The rest of the film seems intent on disproving Hitchcock's theory, especially as you begin to care less and less about how things will play out before the end credits roll.

Jesús (David Pareja) and Maria (Estefanía de los Santos) are two new parents. They may not have a perfect relationship, but they seem determined to try their best now that they have a newborn in their midst. Jesús really wants to purchase a nice coffee table that he sees in a nearby store though, despite it being a bit pricey and impractical. Eventually getting his way, this purchase leads to what can most mildly be described as a bad afternoon for Jesús while María is out shopping for the visitors due at their home later.

I assume that director Caye Casas, who also co-wrote this with frequent collaboratore Cristina Borobia, will be pleased to have made an impression with this film, but I hope he already has better ideas to develop in future projects. Because The Coffee Table is bad, and seems to have garnered a strong reaction from audiences over-reacting to the one main event that the plot revolves around. Frustratingly, there's more hinted at in early scenes that then don't really go anywhere interesting (particularly the strange and uncomfortable atmosphere every time a young neighbour girl, played by Gala Flores, is onscreen), but absolutely everything is sucked down into the whirlpool of what Casas and Borobia mistakenly believe is their crucial "highlight".

Although there's certainly some horror in the concept, a fair bit of it distilled into one moment, the film tries to play out like a strained drama for a lot of the time, with some misjudged pitch-black comedy also thrown in here and there. It's a sustained wallow within the miserable mindset of one character though, for the most part, and that reduces the effectiveness of anything else that is attempted. I doubt many will rush to rewatch this, and I would be very susprised if I didn't find others agreeing with me on how disappointing and tedious it becomes.

Pareja and De Los Santos are both fine, even as they are both asked to give very different kinds of performances, and both Josep Maria Riera and Claudia Riera do well, playing the visitors who unwittingly make the situation much more tense for Jesús, Flores tries to make the most of her screentime, and Eduardo Antuña delivers an ill-fitting bit of extra comedy as the seller of the coffee table.

I heard a lot of good things about this, but then I started to hear from people who hadn't loved it. Some had, in fact, completely hated it. It's made competently enough, from a technical point of view, but I think I have to agree with the latter group. This needed to be much better, and it shows that a film needs more than just one big shock at the heart of it to be worth your time and consideration.

3/10

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Shudder Saturday: Amigo (2020)

I sometimes use other movies as reference points in my reviews, but it's a tricky proposition. You want people to get a sense of something, you want to convey certain elements, but you don't want everyone to start comparing every aspect. Which is why I almost decided against mentioning Caveat here, a film that kept popping into my mind as I watched Amigo.

This is the tale of two friends living together in a remote lodge. Javi (Javier Botet) is a man who can barely speak or move, and he is being cared for by David (David Pareja). There's been a bad accident, that much is clear, but the details are kept hazy, leaving it up to viewers to figure out if these two men are actually still friends, if someone is in danger, and what will happen as one, or both, start to question the reality of their current circumstances.

A feature directorial debut from Óscar Martín, who also co-wrote the script with Botet and Pareja, Amigo is an interesting and atmospheric thriller that manages to move around in very familiar territory without feeling tired and tiresome. A lot of that is down to the casting of the leads, but Martín has a superb visual eye that delivers scenes mixing beauty and grit filtered through a lens worked by the talented cinematographer Alberto Morago (trust me, keep an eye out for his name on other projects).

You may not recognise Botet here, but if you're a horror movie fan then you have most likely seen some of his work already (he's been in numerous big horror movies throughout the past couple of decades, including portraying THAT character at the end of [Rec]). He's not hidden under a lot of monster make-up here, but his physicality is still used to great effect, emphasising just how weak and vulnerable his character is. Pareja isn't quite as unnerving and captivating as an onscreen presence, but he works brilliantly alongside Botet in what is, for the most part, a taut two-hander. There are a couple of other people who pop in and out of the narrative, but everything stays tightly focused on the see-sawing dynamic between Botet and Pareja.

The runtime is a lean 83 minutes, and that's just about as long as it should be. There's not too much substance here, although the intriguing puzzle of the backstory is there for viewers to piece together and consider, but atmosphere and tension are poured over every main scene, leading to a finale that is as dark and satisfying as you might expect.

I look forward to whatever feature Martín helms next, and this is recommended to anyone who wants some nightmare imagery punctuated by fleeting moments of very, and I do mean very, dark comedy (because it is there). Unspectacular, but solid and chilling fare.

7/10

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