I Saw The TV Glow

This review may contain spoilers!

 

I Saw The TV Glow follows Owen, a young loner who befriends Maddy, a fellow outsider who is obsessed with a TV show: The Pink Opaque. As the pair come to bond with one another and fall deeper into their obsession with the show, a mirror is held up to their identities and very reality. 

I thought conceptually this film was very clever, it has an absolutely killer first half that rocks it with some of the very greats I have watched in 2024. The young teens searching for belonging and a sense of self angle, the oddball 80/90s setting and the way The Pink Opaque TV show is defined and developed. Even for the audience this little cult classic show feels so real, it makes me think of old freaky teen horror shows while also having moments that make me think of campy shows like Power Rangers and the like. What indie cinema does well is play around in the genre wheelhouse and do something very good or very unexpected. I Saw the TV Glow really has a strong start as a sort of coming of age narrative, analysing identity and placing our protagonists as loners on a journey of self-discovery through their relationship with one another.

This film is a visual joy a lot of the time, particularly the way lighting and cinematography blend together to make a breathtaking visual motif. The use of purples and pinks and blues to evoke otherness as fascinating or exciting; to invite us into something entirely new and compelling from the 'real world'. Even the harsh flickering greys of the TV upon Owen's father evokes a strong sense of horror and tyranny. I adored the soundtrack and found it made Owen's life feel more like a journey; the inclusion of LGBT+ musicians was extremely important to the intent of the film, too.

 

Ian Foreman, who played Young Owen, could've been the role I followed all film; Foreman played a sincerity and curiosity of his own life that I found really pulled me in during the first act. Helena Howard and Lindsey Jordan, who played Isabel and Tara respectively, really defined the campy leads of the fake TV show; Howard's performance when her role is captured and tortured is perhaps the most terrifying scene of the film. Danielle Deadwyler, who played Brenda, is a phenomenal dramatic actress and steals every scene she is in; Deadwyler balances between such love for her onscreen kid but also a sort of apprehension that adds another dimension to their relationship. 

However, the best performance came from Brigette Lundy-Paine, who played Maddy. I love how aloof and unphased this role is at times, we really understand how Owen finds them too cool to approach at times. Maddy is a role that seems entirely fearless and a lot more self-assured than the protagonist. But Lundy-Paine delivers a very guarded façade in those younger scenes; it is clear there is a lot more to their role beneath the surface. In a lot of ways, Maddy is a character who understands they find comfort in a different truth to their 'reality' and clings to Owen as a sort of hope that someone else understands. Seeing Lundy-Paine's last few desperate, tense scenes as they try to convince their true friend to see what they see is heartbreaking and an instance that sets this performance apart for me.

I love the inventiveness of indie cinema, that way it can be off the wall and very experimental. But there are some common flaws with an indie film too, small moments that make the script feel half-realised or that could push the film further if only there was the power behind it to get there. I actually felt like this film had a true heartfelt story going in the more grounded moments, the magic realism of the TV show and the ultimate TV show twist didn't really elevate anything about the story. In fact, the big twist when Maddy reunites with Owen feels both predictable and a bit cheesy, those moments in which the show feels 'too real' have a nice thematic and aesthetic meaning, but it makes the plot become unfocused, when it was doing just fine in scenes that had more of a basic dramatic grounding. I also thought the film ended extremely poorly, in a double whammy body horror shot closely followed by an extremely abrupt final shot that ended the whole thing in a dissatisfying way. I love a film that makes you guess, but this felt more like being a teacher who had their favourite student hand in eight questions of a ten question worksheet. The whole third act is about mortifying the audience, not in a scary way, but just driving home that everything is bleak and Owen is trapped. Which is very easy to get, but it would've been more assuring to be shown more of a direction for where that story grows. Owen had been faced with a hard choice and a hard life all film, a plot that gave us a sense of journey would've built to a more well-rounded conclusion. I also thought it was entirely amateur to have Justice Smith playing Owen from his early teens to the 40s/50s of his character; it looked bad, but it also pulled me right out of the film at two key transition points.

I also felt the film dragged along in scenes sometimes, the editing set a pace that slogged along but it wasn't as neat or tidy as I would've liked.

Justice Smith, who played Owen, has found some tough roles in the past, but he struggles to play a protagonist worth engaging with in this; Smith puts on a distinct voice that absolutely grated through every scene he was in. Fred Durst, who played Frank, is barely there as the hateful and harsh father figure; Durst is physically in this film but to say he does enough to play a character is a stretch.

Between Justice Smith in the leading role and the complete face-plant that was the second half, I don't know that I really got what I hoped for from this film. I would give I Saw The TV Glow a 5.5/10.