Even after it is over, you are still not quite sure what you just saw. In the end, is it a drama or is it a horror movie? The answer is both, as Schoenbrun has created an optical illusion where you will see a lady putting makeup on or a skull. It is a drama that is heavily dosed with horror elements from first the TV show and then from life itself. You just will never know which direction it is heading while watching it. This is a film that gets savored through reflection as you put all the pieces together and realize the scope of its achievement.
Schoenbrun has captured the rare essence of how the alienated interact around cult comfort shows that establish a refuge of a shared mythology. This is important, as I can’t remember a feature that managed this before. This is punctuated by Lundy-Paine’s stellar turn as Mattie. For a teen outsider to be portrayed so well, we have to go back to Ally Sheedy. Lundy-Paine is so perfect as that girl you knew who had to leave home early. It is eerie. So there is a lot of play with, it just requires some assembly once viewed.
“The fake footage from The Pink Opaque is utterly brilliant…”
Of course, some of us like to be bewildered at the movies, especially when the visuals are as trippy as this. This is precisely the type of movie the cannabinoid receptors grow fat off of, as there is so much for them to feed off of. The lighting is several bright, throbbing shades of perfect. The level of hyper-stylized primary color attack here could rival the Italians with its surreal intensity. Even more admirable is how Schoenbrun ties in the crazy color schemes to realistic locations that sport such lighting, such as arcades, movie theaters, and the living room glow of a cathode ray tube TV.
That all of these otherworldly lights are ingrained in pop culture aspects of existence is a stroke of genius on her part. The fake footage from The Pink Opaque is utterly brilliant, with pristinely cheapo analog FX that are genuinely horrifying. And it all is way fun to watch while high. The sense of wonder that comes with being stoned is amplified by the candy-coated 90s psychedelic imagery. The odd moves of the plot create a fun house mystery feel, which is a gas on short-term memory.
All of this makes I Saw The TV Glow the perfect candidate to be the Pink Floyd The Wall for Millennials. This is, in many ways, the ultimate love letter to the analog age, with perfect timing as so many Gen Xers and Millennials are looking back at the white noise they came from. So smoke a fattie and go space out on I Saw The TV Glow. Don’t use weed? This soon-to-be cult classic is a great reason to start.
"…the Pink Floyd The Wall for Millennials."
I am convinced every favorable review, both professional and otherwise, was personally bought and paid for by Jane Schoenbrun.
Naval-gazing, nonsensical horse crap of the worst kind. The only, ONLY, two things going for this slog were the colorful cinematography and shot composition that nicely reproduced an early ’90s anesthetic.
But I would rather have my fingernails pulled out than watch this thing again.