I Saw the TV Glow Review
Words by Alex Secilmis 05 August 2024
Words by Alex Secilmis 05 August 2024
I Saw The TV Glow is a stunning horror film. Visceral. Haunting. A gut-punch. It deserves all those big words, and more.
I struggle to think of a film that better articulates the weight of suppressing who you truly are. It made me question my own gender identity. It’s also perhaps the most sincere, terrifying, and ultimately hopeful horror film I’ve ever seen.
TV Glow lingers in the terror and joy of “the egg crack”: the arrival of trans self-awareness. That experience belongs to Owen, our anxious, asthmatic protagonist who lives and shakily breathes The Pink Opaque: a young adult horror series from the 90s. Along with Maddy, a fellow fan and his only friend, Owen finds a sense of belonging and identity in his favourite show that eludes him in his small town.
Everyone is on top form here, and credit must first go to Schoenbrun. Their script hinges on a nimbly-crafted non-linear narrative, guided by Owen’s stifled emotions across time. In communicating — or rather, hiding — those emotions, Justice Smith delivers the best performance of the year. From voice to body language, he wholly embodies the agony of being stuck between who the world sees him as and who he really is. He’s the ideal vehicle for Schoenbrun’s brand of horror, with their debut We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and now I Saw The TV Glow cementing them as a specialist in liminal nightmares.
Meanwhile, Alex G’s agile score shifts from 90s synth delights to fretful lo-fi soundscapes and urgent elegies for strings. The film has earned comparisons to Lynch, and its score certainly recalls the eclectic, ethereal nature of Angelo Badalamenti’s work with the director.
If you’re in the UK and Ireland, (while it may fit the subject matter) avoid the small screen if you can and get to the cinema ASAP!
I struggle to think of a film that better articulates the weight of suppressing who you truly are. It made me question my own gender identity. It’s also perhaps the most sincere, terrifying, and ultimately hopeful horror film I’ve ever seen.
TV Glow lingers in the terror and joy of “the egg crack”: the arrival of trans self-awareness. That experience belongs to Owen, our anxious, asthmatic protagonist who lives and shakily breathes The Pink Opaque: a young adult horror series from the 90s. Along with Maddy, a fellow fan and his only friend, Owen finds a sense of belonging and identity in his favourite show that eludes him in his small town.
Everyone is on top form here, and credit must first go to Schoenbrun. Their script hinges on a nimbly-crafted non-linear narrative, guided by Owen’s stifled emotions across time. In communicating — or rather, hiding — those emotions, Justice Smith delivers the best performance of the year. From voice to body language, he wholly embodies the agony of being stuck between who the world sees him as and who he really is. He’s the ideal vehicle for Schoenbrun’s brand of horror, with their debut We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and now I Saw The TV Glow cementing them as a specialist in liminal nightmares.
Meanwhile, Alex G’s agile score shifts from 90s synth delights to fretful lo-fi soundscapes and urgent elegies for strings. The film has earned comparisons to Lynch, and its score certainly recalls the eclectic, ethereal nature of Angelo Badalamenti’s work with the director.
If you’re in the UK and Ireland, (while it may fit the subject matter) avoid the small screen if you can and get to the cinema ASAP!