Nerdly » ‘The Coffee Table’ Limited Edition Blu-ray Review

01st May2025

‘The Coffee Table’ Limited Edition Blu-ray Review

by Alain Elliott

Stars: David Pareja, Estefanía de los Santos, Josep Riera, Claudia Riera, Eduardo Antuña | Written by Caye Casas, Cristina Borobia | Directed by Caye Casas

I had read quite a lot of comments about The Coffee Table before I had seen it, but pretty much all of them said something along the lines of “watch The Coffee Table knowing as little about the film as possible.” And those kinds of comments make it a very difficult film to review because they are absolutely right. You want to know as little about The Coffee Table before you see that. With that said, I will indeed keep my review spoiler-free. But I will have to write a little bit more!

The Coffee Table focuses on newly-turned parents, Jesus and Maria. Despite just becoming parents they are going through a tough time. It wasn’t easy getting pregnant, and Jesus suggests he wasn’t really ‘ready’ to have a child, but now it has arrived, they have chosen to buy a coffee table together. A decision they did not think would change their lives forever.

Jesus is played by David Pareja, and Maria by Estefania de los Santos. Both play their roles incredibly well. You feel the strain in their relationship almost from the off, but it’s never too much. Particularly from Maria’s side, you can see they want to be together. Want to raise this child together. The rest of the cast are great too, especially in the last twenty minutes or so when the performances needed to be good. And before things gets tense – even if it is the first ten minutes, there is some good comedy in there, dark comedy but funny comedy.

That is where the laughs end though. It’s been a long long time since a movie made me feel the way The Coffee Table did. There were moments when I felt sick to my stomach, and moments when I didn’t want to look at the screen. I didn’t want to see the stress and worry that the characters were going through. At times it just feels too much!

What is perhaps the biggest compliment I can give the director here is that he does all this without really showing the viewer anything. You know what has happened, what is happening and what the characters are going through without anything really being shown on screen. That’s quite an achievement for a film of this type.

The script is really good. Nothing is wasted. There’s a sub-plot that involves a young teenage neighbour that could feel a little bit meaningless in lesser hands but it helps move the story along and in the climax becomes an important part of the whole movie.

The Coffee Table is a bleak, soul-destroying, but brilliant movie. It’s a movie you’ll want to talk about to other people as soon as it’s over. You’ll either want to talk about how other people felt while watching or you’ll be telling people to go and watch it. The Coffee Table is not for the faint of heart but it will no doubt be one of the very best movies of 2024.

Special Features:

New audio commentary by Zoë Rose Smith and Amber T
What Scares Us the Most: a new interview with Director Caye Casas
A Sensory Journey: a new interview with Actor David Pareja
We Are All Nuts: a new interview with Actor Estefanía de los Santos
Natural Oppression: a new interview with Director of Photography Alberto Morago
Postpartum: Rebecca Sayce on The Coffee Table
Caye Casas Short films: RIP and Nada S.A

Limited Edition Contents:

Rigid slipcase with new artwork by Luke Headland
120-page book with new essays by Anton Bitel, Jennie Kermode, Joe Lipsett, Shelagh Rowan-Legg Josh Slater-Williams and Dolores Quintana plus storyboard comparisons.
6 collectors’ art cards