Film Snail

I Saw the TV Glow
I Saw the TV Glow

6.1

I Saw the TV Glow

PG-13·2024·100m

Summary

Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate Maddy introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.

Crew

Director, Writer

Jane Schoenbrun

Reviews

B

Brent_Marchant

May 11, 2024

2

After watching this piece of incoherent, unfocused rubbish, I would have much rather watched the TV glow instead. Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s incomprehensible smart horror offering is an absolute utter waste of time, not to mention the ticket price. This glacially paced story of two psychologically and emotionally troubled teens, Owen (Ian Forema) and Maddy (Brigitte Lundy-Paine), who bond over a cheesy late night 1990s young adult sci-fi/horror television series called The Pink Opaque struggles mightily to find its way. As Owen grows into an adult (Justice Smith), his cohort vanishes mysteriously when the TV series is abruptly cancelled, leaving him wondering what happened to her until she just as mysteriously reappears years later with a disjointed story that makes no sense from top to bottom. As the film’s narrator, Owen tries earnestly to explain, but his recounting of this experience is equally baffling, especially when he tells why Maddy has come back after her protracted absence. The result is an unintelligible tale that’s far from frightening (even metaphorically speaking) and ends up being a convoluted mix of 1990s teen angst, extended and inexplicably incorporated music videos, an exploration of sexual ambiguity, and a woefully wayward attempt at symbolically addressing issues related to personal disassociation and self-actualization. There are also numerous story elements and images that are included in the narrative that go undeveloped and unexplored. To its credit, the picture features a fine production design, intriguing cinematography, a good measure of campy comic relief (though not nearly enough of it) and a skillfully assembled soundtrack (handily this release’s best attribute). However, when a film’s musical guests receive greater billing than its cast members and the soundtrack ends up being its strongest asset, that doesn’t speak well about the production’s overall quality. To be honest, I get genuinely annoyed (and feel egregiously ripped off) when I leave the theater having screened a picture whose trailer and marketing seem to offer so much promise and end up failing miserably when it comes to delivering the goods, and that’s very much the case with this pretentious, sophomoric cinematic train wreck. Don’t waste your time or money on this one.

Media

Status:

Released

Original Language:

English

Budget:

$10,000,000.00

Revenue:

$5,385,317.00

Keywords

high school
friendship
loss of sense of reality
sexuality
identity
obsession
surrealism
asthma
sleepover
nostalgia
buried alive
suburbia
coming of age
loneliness
arcade
vhs
tv show in film
guilt
lgbt
lgbt teen
nostalgic
planetarium
running away
gender dysphoria
existentialism
1990s
repression
escapism
subconscious
2000s
2010s
gay theme
movie theater
bar
independent film
body horror
teenager
liminal space
nonbinary director
audacious
gay