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I Saw the TV Glow
2024 100 min United States of America PG-13 18+
★6.7
Horror, Drama
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
Trailers
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Teaser
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Description
In late-90s suburbia, a lonely teenager meets a girl at school who introduces him to a mysterious late-night T.V. show — a vision of a supernatural world pulsing beneath their own. As time goes on, however, questions begin to arise about why the show sometimes seems more real than their own lives. In the pale glow of the television, their view of reality begins to crack.
Budget:
$10M
US Gross:
$5.02M
Worldwide:
$5.41M
Starring
Justice Smith
Actor
Jack Haven
Actor
Ian Foreman
Actor
Awards
12 wins & 92 nominations total
Key opinion
I Saw the TV Glow is a highly polarizing arthouse film that prioritizes atmospheric, surrealist aesthetics over traditional narrative structure. While many viewers praise its bold visual language and poignant exploration of identity and transition, others find the slow pacing, vague symbolism, and lack of character development frustrating and pretentious.
| Cinematography | The film utilizes a striking neon-soaked, lo-fi aesthetic and 90s-inspired cinematography that effectively captures a sense of liminal anxiety. | |
| Acting | Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine deliver committed, nuanced performances that anchor the film's otherwise abstract emotional arc. | |
| Score | The dreamlike soundtrack serves as a powerful, evocative element that consistently enhances the film's melancholic and eerie atmosphere. | |
| Theme | The film is deeply resonant for those who connect with its themes of gender identity and self-discovery, while others view the metaphors as underdeveloped or emotionally distant. | |
| Pacing | The slow, contemplative pacing rewards viewers looking for a meditative experience, but is perceived by many as tedious, rambling, and lacking in necessary narrative momentum. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay splits audiences between those who appreciate its enigmatic, open-ended structure and those who find it incoherent, pretentious, and devoid of satisfying resolution. |