Caye Casas’ film The dining room table He had been dying of disgust since it was made in 2022 until Stephen King thought it was magnificent. At that time, Filmin hung it on her grill and people noticed it (until then, only a few film festivals had recognized its merits). Not that Mr. King’s opinion is one of those who go to mass, because I still remember his glowing praise of the series The Money Heist, from which I disengaged after two episodes and never returned, but there is no doubt that it has its weight. And in this specific case, lowering the enthusiasm a little, the truth is that one agrees with him: The dining room table It is one of the most terrifying experiences. that the fan of cinema in general and horror films in particular can experience.
I confess not having seen Kill God (2017), the first film by Caye Casas (Tarrasa, 1976), probably because Stephen King wasn’t there to remind me, but I plan to fill that gap as soon as I can. There is something very special in The dining room table, which is not exactly a horror film in the usual way, with its scares, its paranormal presences, its dark music and other elements of the genre. It is, however, the story of a human misfortune, the worst we can imagine, and of the strange reaction of those involved in it (I will not specify the misfortune specifically to avoid spoilers). This story could have been explained in the manner of a personal drama, without resorting to horror film ingredients, and perhaps then I would have had a little more luck when it came to finding a distributor. But Mr. Casas has chosen to present us with a human drama disguised as a genre film or, rather, genres, since the horror appears wrapped in a structure of everyday comedy that only serves to make the horrifying even more so. The terror of The dining room table It’s closer to the one in the movie Michael Haneke funny games what of The Exorcist, to understand us. Hence, viewing it is a discomfort bordering on the desire to turn off the television, rush to bed and cover yourself up to the crown of your head with the duvet.
Image from the movie ‘The Nightstand’
Everything begins within the strictest everyday life. Jesús (David Pareja) and María (Estefanía de los Santos) have just had a baby whom they have named Cayetano. Tired of his wife making all the domestic decisions (from the furniture to the paint on the walls, including all the decorative elements), Jesús insists on acquiring a hideous little table consisting of a glass platform supported by two pseudo caryatids. golden María is disgusted by the little table and the guy who tries to sell it to her, but she gives in to have the party in peace, since the couple does not seem to be going through a particularly euphoric moment in their relationship. The irreparable misfortune that I cannot reveal to you takes place during a brief absence of Mary, who has gone out to buy something for dinner because Jesus’ brother and his girlfriend are coming. Jesus has an accident (out of frame) and the table shatters while he walked around the room with the baby in his arms. What comes next is horror in the form of a comedy of manners: the absent attitude of Jesus, the taunts with his brother, the attempts of his girlfriend to fall into his good graces, the baby theoretically asleep in his room, the praise of the potato omelette as the ideal food…To finish things off, there is the appearance of a thirteen-year-old neighbor who is madly in love with Jesus and who assures that he reciprocates her, as demonstrated by the fact (probably invented) that he kissed her one day in the elevator…
Stomach and patience
Everything is cooked over low heat. The tragedy is not chewed because it has already taken place and we can only wait to see how it reaches its boiling point (which will be tremendous). The viewer’s discomfort is increasing, but it is impossible to look away from the screen. And then one is left with the impression of having seen one of the strangest films of recent times, festival fodder, poison for distributors and cruel rarity which gave me sensations similar to those of A Serbian film, that Balkan film that turned the Sitges festival upside down a few years ago. A cruel tale. That’s exactly The dining room table. A story that requires the viewer to stomach, patience and a slightly twisted sense of humor. A story that makes you wonder how Mr. Casas’s brain works to be able to illuminate a story so brutal in form and substance.
Am I recommending it to you? I’m not sure. I also don’t know if I liked her or if she simply blew me away. But with a ridiculous budget, an apartment in his native Terrassa, actors as good as they are unknown, and the blessing of Stephen King, I believe that Caye Casas has earned the right to continue filming unusual films Instead of returning to his old job as a cartoonist (he went through Sport, Photograms, Cinemania or the defunct weekly Interview). It’s worth seeing The dining room table, but it requires a certain courage and, above all, forgetting that cinema is a weapon of entertainment.
