‘I Saw the TV Glow’ Review — Jane Schoenbrun’s Film Is a Stunning Vision

The Big Picture

• I Saw the TV Glow
  is a fascinating and unconventional film that demands to be picked apart and explored.
• The film blends horror, nostalgia, and larger themes of transition, creating a unique and thought-provoking story.
• The cast is strangely assembled but surprisingly effective, with standout performances that add to the film’s captivating atmosphere.

This review was originally part of our coverage for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

In their 2021 film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, writer-director Jane Schoenbrun told a creepypasta-esque story about online communities, the ability to be whatever you want to be behind a computer, and finding a way to be a part of something—even if that could lead to a tragic end. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair felt like a film about finding one’s self and the comfort finding others like ourselves can give. But with their second feature, I Saw the TV Glow, Schoenbrun takes an entirely different approach, creating a story in which we watch as a character knows who they are, and begins to question their reality, slowly losing themselves and their identity, wasting away into uncertainty. I Saw the TV Glow is bold, unhinged, extremely unusual, and also kind of magnificent—a daring step forward for Schoenbrun as a filmmaker, and a film that will certainly divide audiences not sure what the hell to make of it.

What Is ‘I Saw the TV Glow’ About?

I Saw the TV Glow follows Owen (Ian Foreman), who is introduced to a TV show called The Pink Opaque—a 90s amalgamation of several Nickelodeon shows and Buffy the Vampire Slayer—by Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), whose sole interest seems to be the show. Two years later, Owen (now played by Justice Smith) has become equally obsessed with The Pink Opaque, thanks to the recorded VHS tapes Maddy has left for him at school. For both Owen and Maddy, their interest in this strange, monster-of-the-week series becomes more than just a show, but rather, a story that completely alters their perspective and who they are.

Without spoiling the bonkers yet assured vision that Schoenbrun has crafted, I Saw the TV Glow is like a combination of David Lynch and David Cronenberg, infused with Are You Afraid of the Dark? and The Adventures of Pete and Pete, but all through the specific style of Schoenbrun. As this is an A24 film, it’s hard not to think of other daring films that border on horror, like last year’s Beau Is Afraid, which are almost unbelievable in their ambition and concepts. Yet, despite these influences and inspirations, I Saw the TV Glow always feels distinctly like a natural progression for Schoenbrun from We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.

Schoenbrun brings together an unlikely collection of actors that oddly go well together. Smith is asked to push himself in ways we’ve never seen from him before, in a role that covers years of his life and his evolution from a child into an adult who is less sure of what his reality is. Especially in the film’s final moments, Smith does an excellent job of making us care for this uncertain character, even when he’s embracing the weirdness of this story fully. Equally great is Lundy-Paine as Maddy, who encapsulates the power that The Pink Opaque has on this duo, while also expanding the mysteries within this story.

But this extended cast is packed with performances that don’t seem like they should go together, but somehow do. For example, Owen’s parents are played by Till’s Danielle Deadwyler and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Deadwyler shows a compassion for her son that he’s lacking elsewhere in his life, while Durst has a quiet intimidation that makes him an unsettling presence. I Saw the TV Glow has a lot more going on elsewhere, including Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan giving her debut performance and another hilarious turn from Conner O’Malley, but it all works together in a surprisingly effective way.

‘I Saw the TV Glow’ Is Ambitious and Personal

Before the premiere of I Saw the TV Glow at the Sundance Film Festival, Schoenbrun discussed how they started writing the film soon after starting to take hormones, and the darkness of that period and the sort of burying one version of yourself before you can become something else entirely informed this story. From that perspective, I Saw the TV Glow is a tremendous metaphor for that experience, with Schoenbrun trying to make the audience feel the jarring impact that period has rather than tell a more direct narrative.

The often uncomfortable sound design, with music that can go from familiar and beautiful to shocking, and the standout cinematography by Eric K. Yue (A Thousand and One) all create an aural and visual experience that is more about how it makes you feel rather than what the story is trying to say. Yet this is still a fascinating exploration of the way we can get lost in entertainment, the way entertainment can change us, and why we have nostalgia for the things we grew up with, even when they may not live up to our lofty memories. Schoenbrun weaves all of this together into a confounding but bizarrely relatable story.

Schoenbrun also perfectly captures this aesthetic and style of the late ’90s, from Fruitopia machines in the high school to brilliant recreations of what the shows of the era looked and felt like to watch. In catching glimpses of The Pink Opaque, we see a dedication to bringing these shows to life, but also some really wonderful experimentation from Schoenbrun, especially with the creatures that we see. There’s a horrifying presentation that almost makes it feel like these characters couldn’t have been this terrifying on television, but time has remembered them as something even more uncomfortable. One scene late in the film presents the show’s main villain, Mr. Melancholy, a moon-faced man who is almost like a GeorgesMéliès reference by way of Skinamarink.

While I Saw the TV Glow is a film packed with style, from its nostalgia-filled look to its tremendous soundtrack, what has stuck with me in the months since its premiere at Sundance is its tone. Schoenbrun has created a story about not just being an outsider, but about feeling like you’re almost viewing the world from a perspective that is incorrect. Even when the film is at its quietest and most unassuming, there’s a sense that something isn’t right, even if you and the characters within this film can’t put their finger on what exactly that is. Especially in the final moments, where Justice Smith’s Owen finds himself uncertain of who he is or how his existence relates to those around him, I Saw the TV Glow hits on something borderline profound, provocative and unnerving in its relatability of feeling like an outsider in your own world. It’s that tone that makes Schoenbrun’s latest a gut punch.

With I Saw the TV Glow, Schoenbrun hasn’t made a coming-of-age story. They’ve made a coming-apart story. It’s a film that demands to be picked apart and explored. It’s inventive and unconventional in a manner that will perplex and compel in equal measure. Schoenbrun has made a film that will rightfully be one of the most talked about of 2024, and for good reason, as it deserves all the discussion, impressions, and viewpoints possible. Much like The Pink Opaque, I Saw the TV Glow is a movie that will draw you into the screen and dare you to let go.

I Saw the TV Glow comes to theaters in the U.S. starting May 3. Click below for showtimes near you.

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