This was a bummer. I understand what Jane Schoenbrun was going for with I Saw the TV Glow. But this is one of those moviegoing experiences where I wanted a movie to be interesting and fun, and it straight up wasn’t. For perspectives sake, Jane, thanks I guess? I dig your style, just find a new type of movie to use it in to tell the stories you want to tell.
Owen (Ian Foreman), is a sad, lonely 7th grader in the 1990s. His mom Brenda (Danielle Deadwyler) is loving, but he has a judgmental dad Frank (Fred Durst, nice touch there Jane). Desperate for some sort of connection, Owen is drawn to this late night show on a teen network, The Pink Opaque. One day at school they spot Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), an equally sullen 9th grader…who so happens to be reading a book on episode recaps of The Pink Opaque. Owen musters the courage to talk to her, and in them Maddy finds a kindred spirit, forming a bond over this show as older Owen (Justice Smith) and older Maddy find something inside of it that they obsess over. And I do mean obsess.
I can’t imagine what kind of body dysmorphia Jane Schoenbrun must have gone through their entire life. All that hurt and angst is full bore in I Saw the TV Glow, a movie that feels painfully personal to their personal experience, reaching for some sort of understanding anywhere they can find it. Brigette Lundy-Paine and Justice Smith commit to those feelings wholeheartedly, giving very disconnected, scared, unhappy performances to capture a type of person that doesn’t get leading roles in big movies, ever. That type of crusade clouds Schoenbrun’s directing judgment a bit, more intent on showcasing their characters instead of crafting a narrative befitting them. The movie’s going for a tricky combo to pull off: scary body horror film interspersed with silliness at pop cultural touchstones as a teen vs. an adult. That messiness jumbles up the story into a confusing mixture – maybe that’s the point, I guess – that doesn’t really entertain, but more interested in crusading for a person who gets lost in the world’s shuffle. It’s scary if you’re personally having these feelings, but it’s completely unscary as a moviewatching experience, hammering home points over and over again to make sure the voice in the darkness says all they have to say. The lone saving grace here is Schoenbrun’s visual palette: any scenes using light or visual effects really pop off the screen, and their understanding of dumb teen melodramas of the 90s is also amusingly rendered.
I think it should be clear by now, but I am not the audience I Saw the TV Glow wants to see it. But if you’re having confused feelings about how you feel inside your skin, or how you connect with people in the world, or if the only people you understand are TV characters, then this movie might speak to you in a way no other film has ever done before. I will be very happy you found something to feel seen…while I will probably never see this movie again.