"I Saw the TV Glow" - Not a traditional horror flick.

Josh
Jan 27, 2025
4 min read

Jane Schoenbrun (2024)

I'm Maddy but with The Simpsons.

Art is the rawest form of human expression. Incredibly, we’ve evolved so that paint slapped on a rock can flush a modern-day ape with emotions of the story being told via hand prints and animals with questionable anatomy. Notes in a certain order can send a flurry of butterflies to our stomachs without spoken words. But we can feel what the conductor is feeling. We can picture ourselves in the mindset of the person who wrote it then. It's an amazing universal language that can help us connect with people we would've never met and transcend cultural barriers. And it's not restricted to high art, this can range from a Brittany Spears song to the latest recycled Fifa game or a memory of a children's TV show from the 90s. I Saw the TV Glow intelligently captures the feeling of connecting with a piece of media that brings people together and makes you connect with an inner self. A true self. While, the voice behind the film Jane Schoenbrun, very much speaks to the feeling of the struggle to transition. Whether that's self-denial or outside factors suppressing the notion, the message is broad enough that anyone can relate to what our lead is going through in one way or another.

It's when a movie has a clear allegory from the filmmaker but can say their message with open arms that speaks volumes to their skill as a writer. I certainly cannot relate to how hard it must be for someone to live their life questioning their identity. By the end of the movie, I was almost having a panic attack whilst watching Owen (Justice Smith) as an adult, spending his entire life asking the question. The phrase that could drive anyone mad with the infinite possibilities. What if? What if you asked them out? What if you left your job to follow that crazy idea? What if you just left town and explored beyond the borders of your comfort zone? What if you followed the impulses that turned a dream into a reality? What if you tried harder?

Owen is a sheltered child (Ian Foreman playing young Owen) who is helicoptered by their parents being told, “You're not too young to be doing this, you're old enough to be doing Y” and from that young age to adolescence this carries. When he meets an outcast named Maddy (Jack Haven), with messy hair covering her face reading an episode guide on a TV show he isn't allowed to watch, The Pink Opaque, they bond by sharing recorded episodes.

The show itself does well capturing that 90s-era Goosebumps look with corny writing and child acting where each line is said with such weight despite sounding like the stupidest thing ever. With a lot of inspiration from the likes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Are You Afraid of the Dark. And what Owen sees when they return to the show on streaming so many years later, is nothing like he remembered. To the point where it feels like a completely different show. Like the show went from Buffy to Barney & Friends. Yet during the Buffy phase, there were legitimately good unsettling costumes and practical effects.

As Owen gets older he still feels like an outcast with the show being his safe place. Although not explicitly mentioned as he's older he shows severe signs of autism mentioning, “There's something wrong with me, my parents know it but they don't know what.” which was an excellent vehicle for someone not feeling like everyone else, or having that feeling of not being ‘normal’ like other people.

Jack Haven’s performance carries from a late teen to adulthood. Showing signs of autism with hyper energy towards the show while general conversation avoids eye contact. But it's when she's older that her performance takes off. She has such intense monologues where she's staring directly into the lens explaining how she lived the show for real. There’s a great scene where she talks about her near-death experience and rebirth as a character from the show in this makeshift planetarium, as she glides around the space with expressive movements it's so captivating as you hang on to just hear her out. With glow and TV in the title, Eric Yue utilises interesting settings to bring those neon colours into the frame.

Dark rooms are lit by the glow of vending machines (with the lead leaning against a pink soft drink machine, a colour that makes its appearance anywhere possible), or softly bringing light to the room by a fish tank.

As she tries to convince Owen that he should be buried alive to rebirth as a character, he runs. And even though a rational person would say “This is insane” he spends his life asking what if? We see a few quick flashback scenes where they had acted out the show, as he wore a dress to be one of the characters, in a moment that felt right. He asked what if it could've been true. And that follows him for the rest of his life. He lives a lie eventually raising a family but still returning to the show watching like he’s watching what could’ve been on film. This builds up to a breakdown where Owen desperately wants to break free from his body and become who they were meant to be.

There shouldn't be a single person alive who couldn’t relate to our lead. It doesn't have to be from the trans allegory but from the perspective of someone wanting more. Hoping one day you can have the courage to do what you want, rather than wait for Mr Melencoly to take your heart, your true self, and leave you as a husk. Someone just going about your day until you can't handle it and snap. Wanting so much to be the person you wish you could be, you could peel away your skin in hopes they're still there. And not filling out one's potential is terrifying to me.