I Saw The TV Glow
Smith and Lundy-Paine, courtesy of A24.
I Saw the TV Glow is a cult film-in-the-making. A second turn at Sundance for writer/director Jane Schoenbrun (they/them), this haunting sophomore feature channels the voice of a generation: a voice dripping in Nickelodeon slime, Twin Peaks scores and creepypasta lore. A voice that demands to be taken seriously, even when its main villain is literally a Georges Méliès-style moon named Mr. Melancholy.
A follow-up to We're All Going To The World's Fair, Schoenbrun’s latest shines its light on teen outcasts Owen (Justice Smith, he/him) and Maddie (Brigette Lundy-Paine, they/them). The mismatched duo bond over the “The Pink Opaque,” a Goosebumps-style show that helps them escape from the horror of their suburban lives every Saturday at 10:30pm.
Who is this movie for? Fans of Ari Aster’s Hereditary and David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows might appreciate TV Glow’s surreal, winding narrative and aesthetic nod to 80s and 90s horror. That said, it’s hard to attach labels to Schoenbrun's opus. This film is a mystical tale, a coming-of-age drama, an ode to must-see tween television and the low-budget monsters that lingered in corners back when we were 12. It’s also a crushing and horrific analogue to gender dysphoria and child abuse.
Lead actor Smith—like indie darlings Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart—has two features in Sundance this year. His performances in The American Society of Magical Negroes and I Saw the TV Glow could not be more polar. In the former, he taps into the likable boy-next-door charm of a character realizing his full potential. In TV Glow, his voice lowers two octaves, swallowing words as if it's painful to speak. His portrayal of Owen carries an incredible sadness: even as Schoenbrun’s script ages him, his body remains childlike and crumpled. Lundy-Paine is an excellent foil. They complement Smith's performance as the slightly older, prickly classmate who initiates friendship when Owen needs it most.
Prepare for a wild ride. There’s no doubt that Schoenbrun, who also directed Lucy Dacus' "Night Shift" music video, has a unique cinematic eye—but I Saw the TV Glow is far from a neatly-wrapped package. Instead, it’s a crackling live wire whipping around on a dark street: impossible to look away, begging to be touched, despite the sparks that leap out to bite us. And yet, this film offers comfort ... especially to those who, like Owen and Maddie, seek understanding. We may even see the rise of a meta fandom, a group of TV Glow ardents who claim the fictional show as their own, starting online threads about "The Pink Opaque" episodes, creating numerous fanfictions and illustrations, dressing up as its characters for Halloween.
At its heart, I Saw The TV Glow is a surreal fever dream that prioritizes theme first, aesthetic second, and plot third. When the end credits rolled at its Sundance premiere, a litany of frustrated sighs and “Ah, c’mon” gasps bubbled up—a reaction close to the outcry that followed other open-enders like Nolan’s Inception, Iñarritu’s Birdman, and Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness. And though the lack of narrative structure may be a failing for some, unanswered questions are the trademark of an emerging class of modern, meditative horror: films that reach deep into neuroses and provoke unexpected reactions. I Saw The TV Glow will reward multiple viewings.
Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival 2024 by Meghan Cook.
I Saw The TV Glow played in the Midnight Section of the Program.
100 min. Now in theaters.
