I Saw the TV Glow

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I Saw the TV Glow
I saw the tv glow film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jane Schoenbrun
Written byJane Schoenbrun
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEric K. Yue
Edited bySofi Marshall
Music by Alex G
Production
companies
Distributed by A24
Release dates
  • January 18, 2024 (2024-01-18)(Sundance)
  • May 3, 2024 (2024-05-03)(United States)
Running time
100 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3.6 million [2] [3]

I Saw the TV Glow is a 2024 American psychological horror-drama film written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun. It stars Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine, with Ian Foreman, Helena Howard, Fred Durst, and Danielle Deadwyler in supporting roles. The film follows two troubled young friends whose reality begins to spiral when the TV show they bonded over gets cancelled. Emma Stone and Dave McCary serve as producers under their Fruit Tree banner.

Contents

The film premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2024. It was given a limited release by A24 in the United States on May 3, 2024, with a nationwide release on May 17, and received positive reviews from critics.

Plot

In 1996, Owen, an isolated 7th grader, meets Maddy, a 9th grade lesbian, when he notices her reading an episode guide for the young adult show The Pink Opaque, which follows teenagers Isabel and Tara as they fight monsters using their psychic connection. Owen sneaks over to Maddy's to watch a new episode with her and her friend Amanda, finding himself captivated by it.

Two years later, Owen's mother Brenda is terminally ill and Maddy has been ostracized at school after a rumor that she grabbed Amanda's breast. With Owen unable to watch the show live due to his bedtime curfew and his father Frank deriding it as "for girls," Maddy tapes the episodes for him to watch later. Owen goes to her house to watch a new episode, and she draws the symbol that connects Isabel and Tara on the back of his neck. She resolves to run away to escape her abusive stepfather. Brenda dies and Maddy vanishes soon after, while The Pink Opaque is cancelled after five seasons.

In 2008, Owen still lives with Frank and works at a local movie theater. Maddy reappears one night and takes Owen to a bar outside of town that is also a location in The Pink Opaque. She prompts him to remember the show's finale. In the episode, Isabel and Tara have their hearts removed by the show's big bad, Mr. Melancholy, are fed his poisonous "luna juice," and buried alive. The episode implies that Owen is an unconscious Isabel, causing him to panic and shove his head into the TV screen. Frank pulls him out and forces him to wash himself, while Owen screams that he is not living his real life and vomits luna juice.

In the present, Maddy explains to Owen that after leaving, the feelings of isolation and falsehood she felt at home followed her, so she paid a man to bury her alive. After suffocating, she awoke in The Pink Opaque as Tara, her real self. She claims they are currently in Mr. Melancholy's "midnight realm", a deceptive world where time passes quickly. After being unable to find where Isabel was buried in The Pink Opaque, Maddy returned to save Owen before he suffocates. She urges Owen to bury himself with her in order to start season six as Isabel, but he panics and runs home. He never sees Maddy again and is haunted by the possibility he is meant to have a different life.

Frank dies a few years later and Owen stays in the house, settling down and starting an unseen family. He works at a family entertainment center and rediscovers The Pink Opaque on a streaming service, but finds it to be cheesier than he remembers. Twenty years later, he still works at the center and his asthma has become severe. During a birthday party at the center, he breaks down, screams that he is dying, and begs for his mother to save him, which seems to cause everyone at the party to freeze. He locks himself in the bathroom and cuts his chest open, where he sees a TV screen inside, though it is unclear if he is imagining this. He returns to the center, apologizing to the uncaring guests for his breakdown.

Cast

Appearing as themselves in the film are Phoebe Bridgers, Haley Dahl and their band Sloppy Jane, as well as Kristina Esfandiari and her band King Woman.

Themes

Lundy-Paine cited I Saw the TV Glow as an allegory for being transgender. [5]

Production

In October 2021, it was announced Jane Schoenbrun would direct the film, from a screenplay they wrote, with Emma Stone set to produce under her Fruit Tree banner, with A24 producing, financing, and distributing. [6] In August 2022, it was announced Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Helena Howard, Danielle Deadwyler, Amber Benson, Ian Foreman, Michael Maronna, Conner O'Malley, Emma Portner, Danny Tamberelli, Phoebe Bridgers, Lindsey Jordan, Fred Durst, Haley Dahl, Jonathan Chacko, and Kristina Esfandiari had joined the cast of the film. [7] [8]

Principal photography took place in New Jersey from July to August 2022. [9] [10] [11] Shooting took place at Verona High School, Cedar Grove High School and Keansburg Amusement Park. Other notable locations were the music venue The Saint and Camp Lewis. [11]

Music

The film's original score was composed by Alex G. The film features an original soundtrack that includes songs from Caroline Polachek, Sloppy Jane, Phoebe Bridgers, Kristina Esfandiari, Florist, yeule, and Drab Majesty among others. The soundtrack was released on May 10, 2024, followed by Alex's score which released on May 16. [12]

Release

I Saw the TV Glow premiered in the Midnight section at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2024. [13] It also screened at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama section on February 20, 2024 [14] and South by Southwest on March 10, 2024. [15] [16] It was released in limited theaters on May 3, 2024, playing in New York and Los Angeles, [17] before a nationwide expansion on May 17. [18]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 84% of 159 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10.The website's consensus reads: "With a distinctive visual aesthetic that enhances its emotionally resonant narrative, I Saw the TV Glow further establishes writer-director Jane Schoenbrun as a rising talent." [19] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 84 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [20]

Guy Lodge of Variety wrote, "This is both promising psychodrama fodder on its own terms, and of a piece with the particular fixations Schoenbrun has established across their small oeuvre thus far". [21] David Ehrlich of IndieWire wrote, "Schoenbrun's astonishing second feature manages to retain the seductive fear of their micro-budget debut and deepen its thrilling wounds of discovery even while examining them at a much larger scale". [22] Some reviewers also praised its transgender themes, with Richard Brody for The New Yorker calling it "a profound vision of the trans experience" and Veronica Esposito for The Guardian saying it "speaks to '90s trans teens". [23] [24]

The film did receive some negative reviews with Amy Nicholson of the Los Angeles Times describing the film as a "collection of leaden scenes that might make the audience want to claw out of its own skin" adding, "The film invents a new emotion: passionate ambivalence." [25] Nicolas Rapold of Sight & Sound agreed writing, "There's the awed sense of a blueprint or roadmap that is insisted upon without entirely being executed and fulfilled" adding "[it] is a collection...of sequences and moments more than a fully realised whole." [26]

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References

  1. ↑ "I Saw the TV Glow". Sundance Film Festival . Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  2. ↑ "I Saw the TV Glow". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved June 2, 2024. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  3. ↑ "I Saw the TV Glow". The Numbers . Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved June 2, 2024.
  4. ↑ "I Saw the TV Glow". A24 Press . Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  5. ↑ Dick, Jeremy (May 19, 2024). "I Saw the TV Glow Stars Address Trans Allegories of A24 Film". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved May 26, 2024.
  6. ↑ Kroll, Justin (October 7, 2021). "A24 And Emma Stone's Fruit Tree Banner Reunite On Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw The TV Glow". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  7. ↑ Kit, Borys (August 24, 2022). "Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine Starring in A24 Horror Thriller I Saw the TV Glow (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  8. ↑ Bergeson, Samantha (August 24, 2022). "Phoebe Bridgers and Helena Howard Join Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow at A24". IndieWire . Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  9. ↑ Schoenbrun, Jane (July 12, 2022). "It's real!! We are making an @A24 movie this summer!!". Twitter . Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  10. ↑ Schoenbrun, Jane (August 17, 2022). "That's a wrap :-)". Twitter. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Kuperinsky, Amy (February 28, 2024). "See trailer for I Saw the TV Glow, an A24 horror movie filmed in N.J." NJ.com . Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  12. ↑ Keates, Emma (April 25, 2024). "A24 shares new song from stellar I Saw The TV Glow soundtrack". The A.V. Club . Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  13. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (December 6, 2023). "Sundance Unveils Packed 2024 Lineup That Includes A.I., Pedro Pascal, Kristen Stewart, Satan, Devo & Steven Yeun". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  14. ↑ Ntim, Zac (December 14, 2023). "Berlin: Saoirse Ronan, Danielle Deadwyler & Paapa Essiedu Titles Set For Panorama Sidebar". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  15. ↑ "I Saw the TV Glow". South by Southwest . Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  16. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 7, 2024). "SXSW 2024 Second Wave Includes Pics With Sydney Sweeney, Nicolas Cage, Camila Mendes & 'Monkey Man'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  17. ↑ Bergeson, Samantha (February 28, 2024). "'I Saw the TV Glow' Trailer: Jane Schoenbrun Channels David Lynch and Late-Night Cable Nightmares for A24 Horror Movie". IndieWire. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  18. ↑ I Saw The TV Glow [@tvglowmovie] (April 19, 2024). "Follow the glow 📺 Jane Schoenbrun's groundbreaking horror #ISawTheTVGlow opens in NY/LA theaters May 3, nationwide May 17. Get tickets now" (Tweet). Retrieved April 19, 2024– via Twitter.
  19. ↑ "I Saw the TV Glow". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved June 3, 2024. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  20. ↑ "I Saw the TV Glow". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  21. ↑ Lodge, Guy (January 19, 2024). "I Saw the TV Glow Review: Jane Schoenbrun's Eerie Ode to Adolescent Television Obsessions". Variety . Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  22. ↑ Ehrlich, David (January 19, 2024). "I Saw the TV Glow Review: Jane Schoenbrun's Second Feature Is a Haunting Look at What We See in Our Media". IndieWire . Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Nostalgia horror I Saw the TV Glow speaks to 90s trans teens like me". The Guardian.
  24. ↑ ""I Saw the TV Glow" Is a Profound Vision of the Trans Experience". The New Yorker.
  25. ↑ "Review: 'I Saw the TV Glow' gets stranded in a glum gaze from which it never stirs". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  26. ↑ "I Saw the TV Glow: a rough portrait of fanatical obsession". Sight and Sound. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
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