I Saw the TV Glow is a Totally Unique Horror Experience

A24

5/5 stars

In 2022 Jane Schoenbrun set the indie film world ablaze with their audacious debut We're All Going to the World's Fair, a creepy modern horror film that has kept itself embedded in my mind like a recurring nightmare since watching it. Their new film I Saw the TV Glow covers similar territory of parasocial relationships and our unique experiences with the media we consume, but with a much more confident and stylistic touch. The film is one of the most well-made and interesting statements about the horror of dysphoria and the comforting prison of nostalgia, cementing Schoenbrun's place as one of the most exciting independent filmmakers working today.

In the mid-1990s, Owen (Ian Foreman) is a lonely boy just trying to make it through his suburban existence. Things change for him when a classmate named Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) introduces him to a late-night young adult TV show called The Pink Opaque. They become increasingly obsessed with the show until one day, Maddy disappears. Years later, Maddy reappears to Owen (now played by Justice Smith) and reveals to him that she has been living inside the show. Owen learns that he and his friend may have a deeper connection to The Pink Opaque than he originally thought... or is it all just in his head?

Where We're All Going to the World's Fair was firmly rooted in Gen Z fears and anxieties, this film does the same for the Millennial generation, perfectly recreating the joys of tape-trading and the exhilaration of staying up late to catch a show that may be too intense for you. They even give us a few cameos by TV stars that '90s kids will love to see. That feeling becomes a double-edged blade however when their characters get too invested in the show. Of course, the film does an even better job presenting the pure existential terror of gender dysphoria. The final scenes are a horrifying montage for anyone who has ever felt trapped within their own body or societal expectations (something Schoenbrun is no doubt all too familiar with). These final scenes elevate the film from an expertly crafted genre film to a genuine horror masterpiece and possibly one of the most important films for our current age. I Saw the TV Glow is currently playing in select theaters.
Written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun // Starring Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Ian Foreman, Helena Howard, Lindsey Jordan, Connor O'Malley, Emma Portner, Madaline Riley, Amber Benson, Albert Birney, Michael C. Maronna, Danny Tamberelli, Danielle Deadwyler, and Fred Durst // 100 minutes // rated 'PG-13'