‘The Coffee Table’ Director Caye Casas On His Twisted New Film: “They thank you for making them suffer.”
Director Caye Casas has shocked the world with his new film The Coffee Table. Whispers of the film’s depravity drifted through festivals like the 2023 Fantastic Fest where critics and attendees spoke of the darkest of comedies that shook them to their core. Now, what is perhaps the most disturbing film of 2024 is available digitally and ready to shock anyone willing to jump in.
In The Coffee Table:
Jesus and María are a couple going through a tough time in their relationship following the recent arrival of their newborn son. The fiery pair are struggling with the pressures that a new baby brings and their bickering only amplifies on a shopping trip to buy furniture that’s about to change their lives forever.
What begins as a simple disagreement over which coffee table to buy quickly descends into a shocking and tragic event that will rip their lives apart.
We spoke with Casas over email about designing the titular table, finding his cast, and his love of Todd Solondz.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Dread Central: Which part of The Coffee Table came to you first?
Caye Casas: The idea of the movie came to me when I thought about what scares me the most, what terrifies me the most. It’s not monsters, or zombies, or ghosts. The most terrifying thing is what can happen to you in life if you have very bad luck, that cruel destiny that can touch any of us. If you have very bad luck in life, you can live through hell, and that hell is worse than death. Then came the issue of dealing with the ‘taboo’ topic that is not usually seen in the world of cinema. But these tragedies happen and I wanted to tell a story about them.
DC: How did you work to design the table?
CC: It was very curious. We wanted a special, ugly, kitsch… different table. We didn’t have money to make one ourselves, so we looked in shops and markets and we didn’t find anything. But we went to see a friend who is an antique collector and there was the little table, it was white, horrible, dirty and had no glass, but when we saw it, we fell in love. We asked him if he’d sell it to us, and he said, “Do you really want that shit?” I couldn’t believe it, he was going to throw it in the trash! In the end, he gave it to us, that is, the little table came for free. For the small budget we had, this was great news.
DC: What has it been like to see the reactions appear slowly since Fantastic Fest?
CC: The reactions are incredible. The Coffee Table is a movie in which people live very strong emotions. They suffer, they are in shock. Some laugh, most people when they leave the cinema know that they have seen a movie that they will not be able to forget. The curious thing is that they thank you for making them suffer. It’s very crazy to watch the movie in a full room.
DC: The casting here is incredible, but I especially love Estefanía de los Santos as María. What was the casting process, especially for her role, which is so important for the emotional risks of the film?
CC: I knew Estefanía from her previous films, but I didn’t know her personally. I contacted her on Instagram where I told her that I was going to make a movie and that I wanted her to be the protagonist. But, she lived in Mexico and had other projects, so she couldn’t do it. I still sent her the script and she read it the same night. The next day I received a voice message from her. For the first 30 seconds she insulted me: “Son of a bitch! You’re crazy! How could you write this?” She then told me that it was the best script she had read and that she wanted to star in it. And so this wonderful actress entered the project.
DC: What are some of your favorite movies that have influenced your style as a filmmaker?
CC: There are many and they aren’t all horror or full of terror. One of my great references is the filmmaker Todd Solondz and his masterpiece Happiness. But also there are many others such as Michael Haneke, Quention Tarantino, Martin Scorsese and Los españoles Luis Buñuel, Luis García Berlanga and Àlex de la Iglesia.
DC: What’s next for you?
CC: Now I’m moving four projects. One of them is a tale of real terror, as much or more disturbing than The Coffee Table. It is a project that needs more budget and we are looking for more financing. But we are convinced that the general public will enjoy it, will suffer [from] it, and, above all, will not forget it.
The Coffee Table is out now on digital. A limited edition Blu-ray is available via Second Sight Films.
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