Some horror films make you scream, some make you question if human intestines really stretch that far, and some are named after a piece of furniture and leave psychological scarring. The Coffee Table's title and thumbnail aren't going to stand out when you're scrolling through the Tubi movie library, but take a chance on it and you'll experience a story that starts with one seemingly banal decision and turns it into an extended nightmare on a par with Martyrs and the original Danish version of Speak No Evil.
The Coffee Table is free to watch on Tubi now and starts like a domestic drama. Jesus and Maria are an unhappy couple with a new baby, shopping for furniture with resentment hanging over them like a poisonous fog. Jesus takes a shine to a mid-century meets brothel aesthetic monstrosity made of glass and metal, and when his wife says she doesn't want it, the argument quickly spirals from interior design to a battleground for Jesus's insecurity about the lack of power he has in the relationship, in everything from the color of their home's walls to the timing of their first child. He insists on taking the table home, and the consequences of that decision are so much worse than just a marital counselling session.
The spoiler-free version is this: he gets it home, and Maria leaves to buy food and wine ahead of an impending family visit that afternoon. The baby is crying, assembling the table is made more difficult by a missing screw, and then, almost out of nowhere, the big, terrible, awful thing happens. The movie suddenly becomes a death drop towards an inevitable end, and however much you want to look away, you can't help but keep watching. The action never strays far beyond the confines of Jesus and Maria's apartment, but the tension keeps building. It's not so much nail-biting as stomach-ulcer-inducing. Like some of the best horror movies, I can tell you that it's sharply written, brutally delivered, and truly ghastly, but at the same time, I want to sit down with anyone about to watch it and check that they wouldn't want to go for something gentler like, say, The Substance or Obsession instead.
Still with me because you can't wait to or don't want to watch it, but your twisted curiosity has gotten the better of you? Then buckle up. To put it gently, the table becomes the site of what we can call a Hereditary moment for Jesus and Maria's son. Utterly paralyzed with shock, Jesus attempts to continue as if nothing has happened, placing the baby's headless body in its crib and cleaning up the blood. Maria returns home, but Jesus manages to keep her away from their son, but as the audience we know that, like some sort of beheaded Chekhov’s gun, the horrible truth will be uncovered before the movie ends. From there, director Caye Casas just piles on the pressure with family arriving, a neighbor girl who falsely accuses Jesus of inappropriate behavior, a family pregnancy announcement that Jesus doesn't greet with joy, and a pet dog that goes a little bit too Sherlock Holmes and finds the aforementioned missing head under a chair. Needless to say, it's not a happy ending, and any relief the audience might be feeling that the nightmare is over just never seems to come. There's no closure or sense of justice – just one terrible thing that happened.
Boiled down to that pretty basic A to B, the movie could sound like just a cheap shock, but the bloody reality of the situation is restrained so that your discomfort comes instead from your imagination and because of the utter senseless, accidental nature of Jesus's situation. The film is just 90 minutes long, but it will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
For more Tubi horror, check out some more of the best hidden horror gems you can stream on Tubi right now.
ڕەچەڵ وێبەر بەرپرسی پەرەپێدانی سەرنوسەرییە لە کۆمپانیای IGN و هەزار ساڵەی بەساڵاچووە. لە ساڵی ٢٠٠٦ەوە کاتێک لە گۆڤاری فەرمی پلەیستەیشن لە بەریتانیا دەستیپێکرد، لە گۆڤاری فەرمی پلەیستەیشن لە بەریتانیا دەستیپێکرد، لەو کاتەوە لە کۆمپانیاکانی GamesIndustry.Biz و Rolling Stone و GamesRadar کاردەکات. ئەو زۆر حەزی لە فیلمە ترسناکەکان و فیلمە ترسناکەکان و یارییە ترسناکەکان و Red Dead Redemption 2 و خۆشەویستەکانی Love and Deepspace ە.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.ign.com/articles/this-disturbing-horror-movie-is-free-on-tubi-right-now-i-dont-know-if-you-should-watch-it
