Opening in wider release this past weekend, I caught a screening of the latest A24 film I Saw The TV Glow. This was a very experimental and interesting film, but the type that will only appeal to a limited few.
A young boy named Owen (Justice Smith) meets an older girl named Maddie (Brigette Lundy-Paine) one day. He sees her reading a book about The Pink Opaque, a television series that he's curious about but is unable to watch because it airs past his bedtime (10:30pm). After asking Maddie about it, she convinces him to lie to his parents about doing a sleepover at his friend’s house, but instead, going to Maddie's so he can watch it. He does, and soon enough, he becomes a fan of the series, and is able to watch the rest of it as Maddie tapes the episodes for him to see. Both being misfits, they end up bonding over their love of the show, but eventually, the lines between reality and fiction start to blur as the series becomes an obsession of theirs.
This is one of those hard to categorize films that will either resonate with you or it won't. While not a straightforward horror film, it's filled with a lot of surreal imagery, at times is reminiscent of Donnie Darko and the works of David Lynch. It's less about following a linear plot structure, and more about setting a mood to explore its many layered themes, including identity, the trauma that goes with suppressing your true self, isolation, loneliness, and feeling like you're simply going through the motions and living an inauthentic life. Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun, who identifies as both trans and non-binary, injects a lot of queer subtext into the story, showing 2 outcasts who feel trapped by their reality and are unsure of their identity, to the point they would rather get lost in a fictional world than live in the real one. For anyone who's ever felt that suffocating stagnation of feeling so out of place, this movie will definitely speak to you. At times, it was emotionally devastating, and its themes will stay with you long after the credits roll. Everyone in the film is great, but it's Justice Smith who shines with an outstanding, layered, and beautifully tragic performance. As much as I enjoyed this movie, it’s not one that I would recommend to most people, as it’s made for a specific niche audience, and for most casual movie goers, it simply won’t click. For those that it does click with, it can be a powerful, moving experience.
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