One Star Classics : I Saw the TV Glow

I Saw the TV Glow

Oct 02, 2024 / Creepypasta

I’m not going to claim I’m clever enough to know what is going on in I Saw the TV Glow. I don’t think that’s really the point of the film, either. If anything qualifies as a sensory experience—albeit a plot-driven one—this must definitely be it. The neon colors, the narrative, even the music… I Saw the TV Glow creeps under the skin, and unexpectedly so.

Much like Jane Schoenbrun’s previous movie, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, I Saw the TV Glow is a slow burn. The plot is very much in the Creepypasta camp, yet with a twist. Starting off in 1996, we follow Owen (Ian Foreman and Justice Smith), a bored middle-school kid who befriends Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), a superfan of Pink Opaque. The television show is strange and surreal—two girls in constant battle with Mr. Melancholy and his bizarre minions—and Maddy and Owen soon bond over it.

One day, Maddy disappears, and Pink Opaque is abruptly canceled, leaving Owen questioning if the show ever existed at all. And, what reality does he actually live in?

The conceit isn’t a million miles away from Candle Cove (which also served as the base of the first season of SyFy’s Channel Zero), but the way I Saw the TV Glow presents itself as anything but the ordinary. Schoenbrun has described the movie as an allegory for being transgender, as well as being heavily inspired by Twin Peaks: The Return—not exactly the lightest of foundations. Even so, there isn’t much of a need to analyze the film on any scholarly level. Letting it viscerally flow leads to a better experience.

But, more importantly, is I Saw the TV Glow objectively a good movie? I do think so. From a technical perspective, it looks great—the titular glow is there in all neon-colored glories. The cast, too, does a great job, fully selling everything from teenage angst to the fandom it often spurs—it’s not exactly out of the ordinary for kids to find their identities in pop culture.

On the flip side, I Saw the TV Glow is also a movie that requires the viewer to be in a certain headspace. Even if it largely plays on the senses, it does require some concentration. The slow build can quickly feel—for the lack of a better word—boring if you’re not in the mood for something more demanding.

If you are ready for a weird journey through teenage identity and a weird multi-world story, then I Saw the TV Glow is one to draw you in, almost literally.

Those Creepypasta films, ranked

Let’s give it a valiant try…

I Saw the TV Glow
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Butterfly Kisses
The Toll
47 Hours to Live
Always Watching: A Marble Hornets Story

By Remi, Oct 02, 2024

Letterboxd 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.