Written/Directed by Jane Schoenbrun (We’re All Going to the World’s Fair), I Saw the TV Glow was featured in the Festival Favorites at this year’s SXSW Film & Television Festival. I have read the film described as a horror film, along with being a drama, and my anticipation of the horror was greater than what I viewed in the film. I say this for the film fans who are selective of films and tend to stay away from horror films in general. Schoenbrun’s story about Owen (young: Ian Foreman, high school/adult: Justice Smith) begins from 7th grade (1996) and then goes into adulthood living in the same suburb and home all along.
Synopsis: Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate 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.
Young Owen is seen as close to his mother, Brenda (Danielle Deadwyler, Till) and quite distant from his father, Frank (Fred Durst, Limp Bizkit, The Fanatic) in the home. I found it obvious from some scenes he was not willing or able to communicate freely with him. Owen and his mama are at a school event. He introduces himself to another student, Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) who is reading a book of interest to him related to a late-night TV show, “The Pink Opaque.” He learns she is in 9th grade and starts to shy away from her after a remark. She realizes the pain of her words and instead reaches out to him about the show that eventually leads to a friendship bond. When Owen begins his visits with Maddy, the audience soon learns that she too is distanced from her mother/step – father, stating the latter has been violent in the past. Watching “The Pink Opaque” gives them the escape from their real life, with Maddy ultimately planning to leave, as she feels “she will die” if she stays in the suburb instead of the supernatural world she believes exists beyond the suburb.
In this filmmaker’s second production, the story shows how these two teens have had hard times fitting in, or merely don’t try because they don’t know/understand what is going on (Owen more than Maddy). Maddy bluntly tells Owen she likes girls. His response is he “likes TV shows.” Owen describes the confusion of his feeling “something is wrong” and yet his parents don’t or won’t discuss it. There is one line from the film that stays with me when he states feeling as if “someone has dug out his insides.” That felt like a powerful description to me – a type of emptiness.
Both main characters are grasping for more than what they feel they have or need. Connecting to “The Pink Opaque” (the story within the film stars Helena Howard as Isabel and Lindsey Jordan as Tara) is what gets them through this time. Watching others struggle as well, but also able to fight the monsters they face. Some audience members may have memories of their favorite show as a teen. And then, when we look back, some of us may wonder why it appeals/appealed to us. Some memories stick, others can often not be as clear as it once was.
Cast: Tyler Dean Flores (“Neon” TV series, “Miguel Wants to Fight” Hulu), Emma Portner,
Phoebe Bridgers (in a cameo), also appearing as themselves Haley Dahl and their band Sloppy Jane, as well as Kristina Esfandiari and her band King Woman.
Produced by: Emma Stone, Dave McCary, Ali Herting, Sam Intili, and Sarah Winshall.
Rated: PG-13
The film was in limited release in theaters, available in Austin on May 10th and nationwide May 17th.
Studio: A24, SXSW, IMDb
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