The Coffee Table

A put-upon husband gets his way for once, and then screws up in the worst way imaginable.

Not a horror, but a black comedy fuelled by the awful unease of having to own up to the unspeakable. It is engaging, but doesn't really amount to much, and the comedy relies on heavy-handed irony and a score that tries to mix a sense of spaghetti western showdown into the mounting dread. Also very heavy on dialogue, which crowds out the need for action.

The central Event is dealt with off-camera, and only referred to afterward through the stains it leaves behind. A secondary Event is thrown in for gratuitous plot complications, but can't really be sustained by the rather plain characters. I thought the chance for dramatic irony was missed in not getting the wife to decide for herself to stay out of the room: "I promised not to become over-attentive, like my mother" - along those lines.

The performances are good, with the psychic pain of the lead character well delivered. And the direction keeps up variety in a tight location.

Overall: notable oddity.

P.s. There is a Jesus theme, but I don't think it informs the story. Maybe I need to think harder.