Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Plot: Two teenagers bond over their love of a supernatural TV show, but it is mysteriously cancelled.
To each his own I always say. Different strokes for different folks. There's a lid for every – I'll stop now, but I'm sure you get where I'm going with this. While I'm sure a lot of viewers enjoyed I Saw the TV Glow I wasn't one of them.
I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had a girl with a phone I would call her...
It is distributed by A24, a studio well known for delivering unique and intriguing movies and directed by Jane Schoenborn (We're All Going to The World's Fair). Here she continues to explore the effects of isolation and loneliness on young people and the perceived salvation media can bring them with a television show replacing the computer of World's Fair.
In I Saw The TV Glow we meet young Owen (Ian Foreman) who has difficulties making friends. One day he meets an older girl named Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) who introduces him to a teen show called "The Pink Opaque". Surreal doesn't begin to describe the show but Owen is instantly hooked on it and a friendship builds between the two based around their love of it. As he gets older (now played by Detective Pikachu's Justice Smith) Owen is lost without Maddy who flits in and out of his life only to show up again to give him a lost episode of their favourite show.
I wonder if she likes me or if she like likes me
Easily digestible this movie is not but I do commend it for painting well-worn themes with a much more stylish brush. With every new role Justice Smith is proving himself to be quite versatile and his portrayal of Owen as a lost young man who is searching for his identity through others like Mandy is the one touchstone I could find in this movie. And this kept me engaged even as I found myself mostly bored by it all.
Scene after scene of drawn-out monologues lacking in emotion made this movie feel three hours long (the actual runtime is a modest one hour and 40 minutes) and at one point I paused it and took a breather so as not to totally check out while watching my television glow. I appreciate weirdness in a movie but when it starts to feel weird for weird sake I'm out. And beyond the vivid neon scattered throughout and the strange yet engaging aspects of the show "The Pink Opaque", I couldn't find anything here that would make me recommend this to anyone.
These Japanese game shows are so weird
Where Skinamarink made up for its lack of narrative with a nightmarish atmosphere, I Saw the TV Glow's lack of energy, sparsely developed characters and overly talkative narrative makes this the type of movie that's better watched with the audio off. The visual style will draw you in (to a point) but when it comes to the topic of teenage angst and longing, films like It Follows would be a much better way to go.
Sommer's Score: 4.5 out of 10
Have you seen I Saw the TV Glow? What did you think of it? And you can check out more weird horror content below:
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Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge-Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I'll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes. Double Tap Baby! Read More
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