Jane Schoenbrun’s second feature, I Saw the TV Glow, is a harrowing, personal, disturbing, and deeply moving film about identity. This movie will surely be a hit for the LGBTQ+ community while also being universally acceptable in its deconstruction of what it means to be your true self.
There were so many moments in the film where I was borderline disturbed and heartbroken. If you have ever had a period where you felt like you weren’t yourself or active in your own life, prepare for a massive gut punch.
The film follows Owen, a suburban teenager living in the 90s. Owen is incredibly timid and refuses to make eye contact with damn near everyone he talks to, I think this character could have been extremely uninteresting, but due to Justice Smith’s nuanced performance, you cannot help but put yourself in his shoes. He speaks in a higher pitch, walks with his head down, and apologizes to everyone for everything, including situations that have nothing to do with him.
His life seems like an inescapable hell of mundanity and guilt until he’s introduced to a TV show by his classmate, Maddy. Maddy is played by Brigette Lundy-Paine, who does an amazing job portraying the stereotypical older, lonely girl character, whom many younger people think is cool, adding many layers to their portrayal of the character. Owen and Maddy bond over “The Pink Opaque,” a show basically the baby of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Goosebumps, until one day, it gets mysteriously canceled.
This movie says so many things in 100 minutes that I think it is impossible to catch every story beat and clue hinting towards the larger narrative at hand. Between what it means to be your true self, how our identity is formed, what impact media plays in shaping our identity, and perception of time; the film has so many themes to learn from.
After creating an intellectual feast, this movie will not leave my mind anytime soon, especially with everything it has to say. Part-CreepyPasta, Part-David Lynch, Schoenbrun created a psychological drama destined to become a new favorite among chronically online people in their late teens and twenties.
The screening I attended was for the Chicago Critics Film Festival, with Schoenbrun in attendance, at the historic Music Box Theater. I normally do not talk about my audience’s experience when watching a film, but this time, the lack of theater etiquette was something else. Though the audience sold out, they were incredibly rude and disrespectful throughout the whole film, holding the movie back from being a perfect experience for me.
Almost every time a name brand was used, or something downright horrific was on the screen, over half of the 725-seated theater would laugh as if they were at a Seinfeld live-taping. There were moments where I wish I could have seen Schoenbrun’s face during the screening so I could see what they thought of the audience’s reaction on numerous occasions.
In my opinion, the film isn’t what it is marketed as. Is the film horrifying? Absolutely. Would I call it a horror film? Absolutely not. It’s much more of a coming-of-age psychological drama than anything else. The way how Schoenbrun visually portrays time in this film is unlike any other film I have seen. Years fly by after what feels like seconds, in hopes of feeling happier. But as the years pass, nothing changes besides your age.
The auditory and visual experience of this movie is nothing short of spectacular. If you love dark imagery drenched in colorful neon lighting, isolating wide shots, Phoebe Bridgers, teen angst, static, and Alex G’s wonderful score, this film emphasizes its dream-like quality through all of these aspects, complementing the layered performances to create a disturbing journey of acceptance. I didn’t speak much about the plot of this film, as I feel it is best to go into it blind.
However, it’s important to note that the film’s trailer doesn’t sell it properly, and I can easily see plenty of people leaving their multiplexes aggravated that they were advertised something else. I personally adored this movie, as I feel like it is a once-in-a-generation level movie. There were so many sequences where I couldn’t even hear myself breathe because of how entranced I was in this world’s nightmarish, neon glow.
Please go support this film and Jane Schoenbrun when it is released worldwide; they are one of the most unique voices in all of film right now.
I Saw The TV Glow premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. This review was made possible by a screening at the 2024 Chicago Critics Film Festival.
I Saw the TV Glow is written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, produced by Emma Stone and Dave McCary, starring Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Danielle Deadwyler, and Fred Durst. Distributed by A24 and released in NYC/LA on May 3rd, 2024, before expanding Nationwide on May 17th.
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