Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun first built themself a reputation with their unauthorized YouTube Slenderman collection A Self-Induced Hallucination in 2018. In 2021, they became one-to-watch in the horror genre with their trippy festival darling We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Now, the watching can continue with Schoenbrun’s second official feature, I Saw the TV Glow.
I Saw the TV Glow is set mostly in the late nineties/early aughts, the days of tube televisions and tape VCRs. Two teenage students named Owen (Justice Smith from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Jurassic World Dominion) and Maddie (Bill & Ted Face the Music’s Brigette Lundy-Paine) bond over their obsession with a paranormal television show called The Pink Opaque. When the show is canceled, Maddie mysteriously disappears. As time goes on, Owen wonders if The Pink Opaque was more than just a TV show.
So, essentially, I Saw the TV Glow is a quirky little coming-of-age tale, following Owen through the years as he tries to make sense of what might have happened to Maddie and how The Pink Opaque may be involved. The mystery unravels, and it’s a very compelling one. And as the film reveals its secrets, it’s intriguing. It grabs a hold of the audience and doesn’t let go.
From a narrative standpoint, I Saw the TV Glow is more accessible than We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. This doesn’t mean that it’s got a formulaic plot or anything like that, just that there is a semi-coherent story to it. Although Owen does break the fourth wall to narrate more than a few times, I Saw the TV Glow is not put together in the same voyeuristic, found-footage type of way as Schoenbrun’s earlier movies. It’s a more standard narrative, so it’s easier to follow. Or, at least, it’s as easy to follow as a Schoenbrun film is apt to get.
Stylistically, I Saw the TV Glow is absolutely a Jane Schoenbrun film. It’s visually stunning. Its imagery is simultaneously bathed in neon and shrouded in shadows, and the framing of the shots forces the viewer to wonder if they are, in fact, looking where they’re supposed to be looking. The sound evokes an eerie stillness, and the music, both the score and the diegetic soundtrack, helps reinforce the teenage dream landscape of the in-movie universe. Schoenbrun builds a hallucinatory fantasy world that lives right on the border of reality.
Although some of the ideas in I Saw the TV Glow are creepy and unsettling, it’s a bit of a stretch to call it scary. It’s one of those horror movies that disturbs its audience more than it terrifies it. It doesn’t let the viewer relax out of fear of possibly missing something crucial. There are no cheap jump scares, because there are no jump scares at all. It’s all built on atmosphere and dread. A mood movie.
Without spoiling the ending (partially because there’s not much to spoil), I Saw the TV Glow doesn’t quite stick the landing. All of the unfolding and recounting of the mystery is kind of wasted by a strange, Cronenberg-lite conclusion that may or may not be actually happening. It ends just as unceremoniously and unsatisfyingly as the character’s beloved TV show did. And maybe that’s the point? Who knows. Ambiguity also could just be a Jane Schoenbrun trademark.
It’s safe to say that Jane Schoenbrun is unlike any other filmmaker working today. Their work is exciting in its creativity, and while things may not always work, they aren’t afraid to take risks, and the attempt is what is most admirable. And honestly, I Saw the TV Glow comes pretty darn close to working. Which means that Jane Schoenbrun will remain on the one-to-watch list, at least for the near future.
GRADE: B
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violent content, some sexual material, thematic elements, and teen smoking
Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Release Date: May 17, 2024 (Wide)
Studio: A24
