The poster bills this as a ‘cruel’ film, and does not lie. By virtue of its subject matter, it is simultaneously the most horrific and realistic horror one might see this year, or most any year. It is a slow train wreck of guilt in the aftermath of a horrible tragedy, and every scene carries an uncomfortable nature. There’s far less gore than one would expect, but it gleefully allows your mind to fill in all the blanks, and there’s nothing pleasant conjured. It also possesses a dark humor, but one would be hard-pressed to laugh during any moment watching it. This is like an endurance test for how much one can take watching personal torment, and gut-wrenching on many levels, far from the inciting event. The closest comparison my mind can find is the ‘Tell-Tale Heart’, or something by the Coen brothers, but without any of the characters being actively horrible people. It is brilliantly made, effectively executed, unique and unflinching in its bleakness. The actors are fantastic in their depiction, but again… This is all very hard to watch and hard to recommend, but for those willing to watch a worst case scenario of personal tragedy, there is nothing else like it on the landscape, with an unrelenting confidence that no hollywood studio would ever touch something like this.
The Coffee Table (2024)