If you're not already familiar with rising star filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, get to work ASAP. I Saw the TV Glow will go down as a groundbreaking achievement for A24, and that's saying something for the studio and distribution powerhouse behind Everything Everywhere All at Once. Just one look at the promotional image that's been circulating for I Saw the TV Glow, and you'll catch Poltergeist "they're heeeeere" vibes. It's certainly fitting for this sort of retro horror-thriller about the "glow" of pop-culture thrills consuming the young, particularly those amid suburban decay with little else to do in their formative years. Combined with the growing pains of self-discovery of our identity, sexuality, and more, the impact of television programming can be devastating in a number of ways.
Does life imitate art, or vice versa here? Questions are left unanswered, and Reddit will continue to go haywire, but these highly anticipated reactions from the rest of the world make I Saw the TV Glow all the more fun as an exciting addition to various realms of cinema: queer, independent, horror, psychological, and more.
I Saw the TV Glow
4/5
- Release Date
- May 3, 2024
- Director
- Jane Schoenbrun
- Runtime
- 1h 40m
- Writers
- Jane Schoenbrun
- A truthful and nuanced coming-of-age story
- Brilliant absurdist horror
- Expertly performed and used narration from Justice Smith
- Certain sequences are overly drawn out
Sex Preference: 'I Like...TV Shows?'
Going back a couple of years, Schoenbrun's debut feature We're All Going to the World's Fair (currently available to stream on Max) might be a good warmup before checking out I Saw the TV Glow in theaters this weekend. But no biggie if you can't swing it — going into the Justice Smith starrer cold might even make for a better payoff. Tough to say, since you can only go one route in this sole life of ours... And on that note, I Saw the TV Glow becomes a reality-blurring mind-trip of a movie where we might find ourselves wondering if we're watching dueling realities at certain moments. Sometimes, we're so engrossed by the power of TV content that it's perhaps difficult to differentiate between reality and fiction beyond the "TV glow," right?
Lines were similarly blurred in We're All Going to the World's Fair, but no spoilers here for either stunning achievement of Schoenbrun's. I Saw the TV Glow (the more you say the title out loud, the cooler you feel) is a can't-miss for film buffs, lovers of '90s TV, and queer cinema enthusiasts everywhere. It starts with young Owen, played by Ian Foreman (Let the Right One In) at first. He connects with classmate Maddy, who is played to perfection by Brigette Lundy-Paine even when the story leaps forward several years, at which point Smith takes over the role of Owen during this high school chapter of the film.
The TV glows not with a '90s show that millennials all grew up on, but rather a made-up program called "The Pink Opaque," where young female characters work to defeat a central villain named Mr. Melancholy. Owen and Maddy watch together, but then, as sometimes happens with childhood friendships, they drift apart as they grow older.
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Hauntingly Beautiful Nostalgia
It also doesn't help Owen's livelihood that Maddy quite literally disappears from his day-to-day, seemingly out of nowhere. But when our pals vanish, that doesn't mean our growth is stunted. Owen grows older, despite still living with his parents (the reliably sublime Danielle Deadwyler and a terrifying Fred Durst), starts working a dead-end job at a movie theater surrounded by eye-roll employees like Dave (I Think You Should Leave standout Conner O'Malley), but something's off. Revealing flashbacks show that Owen's loving time with Maddy was his more transformative period, and it's no surprise hearing that filmmaker Schoenbrun had their own transition in mind when building the sensational story that is I Saw the TV Glow.
It's not exactly a spoiler to know that Maddy and Owen's time together doesn't exactly end once she disappears. A hauntingly beautiful yet unnerving third act sets the stage for perplexing questions about the supernatural world alongside our own — or at least, the beliefs of said world that mysterious Buffy the Vampire Hunter-esque TV shows once led us to believe when we were growing up. You might even catch The Adventures of Pete & Pete vibes when watching bits of "The Pink Opaque," which Schoenbrun confirmed to us was an inspiration in our recent interview with them.
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A24 has broken the mold when it comes to independent filmmaking. Let's take a look at some of the studio's best movies, ranked.To spoil the outrageous spiritual and psychological journey that grown-up Owen endures late in the film would be cruel. It's almost Kubrickian in nature and will be talked about for weeks to come. Smith gives a commanding, heartfelt performance that is far superior to more throwaway roles in years past, like those Jurassic World sequels, for instance. The eloquent narration he delivers in I Saw the TV Glow, sometimes right on-camera and looking right at us (perhaps paying homage to true '90s TV fashion) is also impactful throughout the film and not overdone.
The final absurdist sequence might be perceived as overkill and alienate even the most diehard of film buffs, along with certain other sequences that drag a bit too long — watch out for the unnerving bar scene that could have been tightened by at least five minutes, though seeing the acclaimed Phoebe Bridgers perform in the background certainly helps.
Nonetheless, I Saw the TV Glow proves Schoenbrun is a rising tour de force on the indie film scene. Don't be surprised if a spiritual follow-up hits the masses a couple of years from now to complete a sort of trilogy of hard-hitting, contemplative features by the innovative writer-director. In the meantime, from A24, I Saw the TV Glow is now playing in select theaters.
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