Jane Schoenbrun. wrote and directed I Saw the TV Glow, a psychological horror drama starring Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine as two troubled high school students whose profound attachment to a favorite TV show drives them to question their real identities.
Grade: B+
The supporting cast of this quintessential indie movie includes Helena Howard, Lindsey Jordan, Conner O’Malley, Emma Portner, Ian Foreman, Fred Durst, and Danielle Deadwyler.
The film marks the second entry in what Schoenbrun refers to as “Screen Trilogy,” after the film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021) and preceding a trilogy of novels titled Public Access Afterworld.
Set in 1996, the tale centers on two isolated teenagers Owen and Maddy bond over the young adult TV show “The Pink Opaque,” which follows teenagers Isabel and Tara using their psychic connection to fight supervillain Mr. Melancholy, who has the power to warp time and reality.
The show airs past his designated bedtime, so Owen sneaks out to the house of Maddy, who feels that the show is “more real” than her real life.
Two years later, while watching The Pink Opaque with Owen, Maddy has resolved to run away to escape her abusive stepfather and implores Owen to join her.
Later that month, Owen’s mother Brenda dies of cancer, Maddy goes missing, and The Pink Opaque is canceled after five seasons.
Cut to 2006, Owen still lives with his father Frank and works at local movie theater. Maddy reappears and rebuffs his pleas to contact the police, instead questioning what he remembers of The Pink Opaque and claiming to have spent the past 8 years inside the show itself.
Owen rewatches the final episode, in which Mr. Melancholy buries Isabel and Tara alive before imprisoning them in a pocket universe known as the “Midnight Realm.” Owen suffers a nervous breakdown and attempts to smash his head through the TV screen before Frank pulls him out.
Maddy then encourages Owen to allow her to bury him alive so that they may return to their reality. She leads him to a football field but he fends her off. He never sees Maddy again, but he remains haunted by her.
In 2010, Frank dies of a stroke and the movie theater goes out of business. One night, he rewatches The Pink Opaque but finds it to be more fatuous and juvenile than he remembers. Over the next few years, both his depression and asthma increasingly worsen.
In 2026, during a child’s birthday party, Owen locks himself in the bathroom and cuts his chest open with box cutter, smiling when he sees a TV screen playing The Pink Opaque. He returns to work and apologizes for his outburst.
Schoenbrun began work on the script just months after undergoing hormone replacement therapy, having come out as transgender. In featuring transgender themes, Schoenbrun avoided making transitioning or coming out central to the plot, instead writing the story as an allegory for being transgender.
Schoenbrun has frequently described the film as “egg crack,” the moment in a trans’ life when they realize their identity does not correspond to their assigned gender. In that respect, Owen’s choice to not bury himself alive with Maddy and existential crisis could be seen as illustrative of personal fears of potentially living out life without having transitioned.
The film draws inspiration from Schoenbrun’s dream about the ending of Twin Peaks (1990–91), aiming to capture a “Lynchian terror.” Inspired by Lynch’s follow-up Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), I Saw the TV Glow intertwines themes of TV series, their evolution, ending and revival.
With a distinctive visual aesthetic that enhances its original decades-spanning narrative, I Saw the TV Glow establishes writer-director Jane Schoenbrun as a major talent to watch.
While a discomforting experience, the film is notable for the authenticity with which it conveys transgender themes of the 1990s, and is effective as both a horror drama and as an allegory of broader issues.
Actress Emma Stone and husband Dave McCary are among the film’s producers under their Fruit Tree company. The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Fest, and then was given limited theatrical release by A24 on May 3.
Cast
Justice Smith as Owen
Ian Foreman as younger Owen
Brigette Lundy-Paine as Maddy Wilson
Helena Howard as Isabel
Lindsey Jordan as Tara
Danielle Deadwyler as Brenda
Fred Durst as Frank
Conner O’Malley as Dave
Emma Portner as Mr. Melancholy/Marco/Amanda/Evil Clown
