I Saw the TV Glow solidifies Jane Schoenbrun as one of the most exciting filmmakers working today. The film hauntingly asks you to get lost in the beautiful imagery, sound, and storytelling on display. I Saw the TV Glow is an arresting exploration of loneliness, identity, obsession, and friendship. 

I Saw the TV Glow is a revolutionary odyssey of trans-identity and loneliness as Jane Schoenbrun elevates a self-discovery tale within the horror genre and consistently elevates whatever genre the film is to be so much more. Schoenbrun is a writer/director who consistently explores a real emotional truth behind the characters they’re writing and the audience at its center. In both of their films, Schoenbrun is able to utilize technology in a way that the screen isn’t just something the characters gaze at but instead get lost in, just as the audience is watching their films. I Saw the TV Glow is a rare film that feels magical and terrifying while testing the boundaries of how you can truly lose yourself while watching a film. 

Owen (played by Ian Foreman as a pre-teen and Justice Smith as a high schooler) casually finds a TV program being advertised, The Pink Opaque, as he watches TV, but the show airs after his bedtime. Owen has a close relationship with his mother (Danielle Deadwyler), but his father (Fred Durst) has a towering presence over their lives. His father is almost always offscreen, yet you can always feel his almost abusive powers looming over them and their home. On an election night held at Owen’s school, he sees Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) reading an episode guide for ‘The Pink Opaque’ and he wants to approach her but hesitates at first. This first meeting between our two main characters feels so important because it not only sets up their dynamic, but we see the reserve each of them have to opening up to anyone, regardless of shared interest. 

While Owen isn’t exactly allowed to watch ‘The Pink Opaque,’ he first sneaks out for a secret sleepover at Maddy’s house to watch until he panics the next morning at how much they shared and opened up to one another. As years pass, Owen still longs for the show and connection to someone through the same obsession. Eventually, Owen and Maddy reconnect, and she weekly records the show leaving him VHS tapes of each episode. They trade notes dissecting each episode as if it’s almost a secret code between them.  Schoenbrun perfectly captures the feeling of a secret between friends in high school; that raw emotion that feels no one else will ever understand is palpable on the screen. 

The connection between Owen and Maddy is slightly skewed and not just because Maddy is older; she almost navigates Owen through his high school years exclusively through ‘The Pink Opaque’ and her input. She opens up to him about liking girls and his response is vulnerable about his confusion of feelings of attraction and feeling empty. Smith in this scene is heart wrenching and absolutely captures the physical aching from not being able to open up as well as figure out what the feeling is. Maddy is disconnected almost entirely from reality and anything that is not ‘The Pink Opaque.’ I Saw the TV Glow is a film about discovering yourself and how that journey, or lack of, can impact your life and mind. Owen’s entire life is waiting to watch ‘The Pink Opaque’ with Maddy, to get her notes on the show, or just be seen by his only friend. Something so relevant today as online communities have grown is finding a safe haven living vicariously through a TV show… While Owen sits and watches, that’s his life experience. Maddy wants more and when the show is cancelled, she disappers mysteriously and without a trace or word to Owen. 

Meanwhile, Owen almost barely exists. He disappears inside his own head after her disappearances. Owen ‘happily’ nods along in life and gets in and out of work each day after finishing high school, living in the same room in his childhood home after his mother passed away and even after his father dies too. Owen is never truly living. When Maddy returns, Owen asks her where she’s been and instead of providing easy answers, she asks him questions about his memories of his childhood and ‘The Pink Opaque.’ Lundy-Paine delivers a hauntingly beautiful performance the entire film, but the monologue they deliver at the end, which could be just an exposition dump in the hands of any other actor, but Lundy-Paine delivers it with such vulnerable realism it sends the audience into a shockwave. 

Schoenbrun not only nails the 1990’s visually from the clothes to the Fruitopia to the way movie theaters hummed, but the achingly lonely feeling many felt growing up in this era. The Pink Opaque reminds me so much of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (not just because of that font!) or Charmed, these shows weren’t just shows to teens but actual lifelines. The way a teenager found not only solace but a purpose week to week from characters dealing with (supernatural) problems that will never happen in our normal lives.  Schoenbrun never makes this feel like a longing for ‘the good old days’ or nostalgia, they dive deeper into how dark these times were and especially through the viewpoint of teenagers. It’s so unbelievably authentic and real the way they write and how the performers truly transport you not only back in time but to those real feelings. 

I Saw the TV Glow is not just a study on fandom and friendship, but a beautiful exploration of how trans identity can find a carefree place, such as a TV fandom, to grow and open up, but somehow still remained trapped as the fandom is enclosing the freedom to one place. While in ‘The Pink Opaque’ the characters need a psychic plane to communicate, what Schoenbrun does in I Saw the TV Glow is allows the characters, writing, and music to break through the screen and allow the audience to feel and absorb the cautionary tale of a life half-lived. 

Grade: A

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Original Song

Release Date: May 3, 2024
Where to Watch: In Select Theaters