I Saw the TV Glow

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I Saw the TV Glow
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJane Schoenbrun
Written byJane Schoenbrun
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEric K. Yue
Edited bySofi Marshall
Music byAlex G
Production
companies
Distributed byA24
Release dates
  • January 18, 2024 (2024-01-18) (Sundance)
  • May 3, 2024 (2024-05-03)
Running time
100 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$116,340[2][3]

I Saw the TV Glow is a 2024 American psychological horror-thriller 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.

It was given a limited release by A24 in the United States on May 3, 2024, playing in New York and Los Angeles, with a wide release to follow on May 17.

Plot[edit]

In 1996, withdrawn 7th grader Owen strikes up a friendship with troubled 9th grader Maddy, who he notices reading an episode guide for the young adult television series The Pink Opaque, which features a group of teenage girls fighting monsters in a dangerous supernatural realm. Under the pretext of attending a sleepover at a different schoolmate's house, Owen sneaks over to Maddy's house to watch the upcoming episode alongside her friend Amanda. Though daunted by its dense mythology, Owen falls in love with the series.

In 1998, Owen's mother Brenda is stricken with a terminal illness, forcing him to face the prospect of living alone with his cruel and judgmental stepfather Frank. Maddy has been ostracized by her peers after a rumor circulated the previous year that she touched Amanda's breast. Amanda has joined the cheer squad, exacerbating the bullying of Maddy, who continues to watch The Pink Opaque to cope with her miserable social life and physically abusive father. When Owen is unable to watch the show with Maddy due to his parents' strict curfew, Maddy begins taping the episodes for Owen to watch later and provides him notes explaining the lore of the series until he is caught up.

Owen visits Maddy once again to watch the newest episode. The following morning, Maddy resolves to run away from home, convinced that she will die if she stays in the town for much longer. She invites Owen to accompany her, but he is reluctant to do so. The next year, Brenda dies of her disease, and, within the same month, Maddy disappears without a trace, and The Pink Opaque is canceled after five seasons.

In 2007, Owen supports and lives with Frank, working at a local movie theater for income. One night, Maddy suddenly reappears and asks to speak with Owen in private. At a bar on the outskirts of town, Maddy suggests that the world of The Pink Opaque is real and that she and Owen can live there. Owen later watches his tape of the show's finale, in which the protagonists are buried alive, and hallucinates memories of his own life appearing within the episode; in a panic, he shoves his head into the TV before Frank finds him and forces him out.

Later, inside an inflatable constellation dome, Maddy explains that after she left town, everywhere that she tried to live gave her the same feelings of stagnancy and isolation that she felt at home. One day, she paid a stranger to bury her alive, and her prolonged entrapment caused her to appear in The Pink Opaque, picking up where the series left off in its finale. She tries to convince Owen to have himself buried alive and join her in The Pink Opaque, but he does not believe her and runs back home, where he finds Frank suffered a debilitating stroke. Owen never sees Maddy again.

In 2010, the movie theater is closed, and Owen and his former manager get jobs at the local fun center. Frank dies after suffering another stroke, and Owen decides to live alone in the same house. After rediscovering The Pink Opaque on a streaming service, Owen rewatches it, only to find that the show was cheesier, cheaper, and more poorly written than he remembered, which depresses him.

In 2030, Owen is in his late 40s and still works the same menial job at the fun center. His health has worsened because he cannot afford medication for his inhaler. During a family birthday party, Owen suffers a mental breakdown, screaming that he's "dying in here" and for someone to help him. He locks himself in the bathroom and experiences a vision in which he cuts his chest with a box cutter and pulls it open, revealing a TV screen playing distorted and staticky footage of The Pink Opaque. He eventually returns to the party, apologizing to the other guests for his outburst, none of whom acknowledge him.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

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.[5] 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.[6][7]

Principal photography took place in New Jersey from July to August 2022.[8][9][10] 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.[10]

Music[edit]

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, and yeule, among others. The soundtrack will be released on May 10, 2024.[11]

Release[edit]

I Saw the TV Glow premiered in the Midnight section at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2024.[12] It also screened at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama section on February 20, 2024[13] and South by Southwest on March 10, 2024.[14][15] It was released in limited theaters on May 3, 2024,[16] before a wide expansion on May 17.[17]

Reception[edit]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 88% of 73 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. 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."[18] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 87 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[19]

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".[20] 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".[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "I Saw the TV Glow". Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  2. ^ "I Saw the TV Glow". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved May 5, 2024.Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ "I Saw the TV Glow". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  4. ^ "I Saw the TV Glow". A24 Press. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Schoenbrun, Jane (July 12, 2022). "It's real!! We are making an @A24 movie this summer!!". Twitter. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  9. ^ Schoenbrun, Jane (August 17, 2022). "That's a wrap :-)". Twitter. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
  10. ^ a b 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.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ Ntim, Zac (December 14, 2023). "Berlin: Saoirse Ronan, Danielle Deadwyler & Paapa Essiedu Titles Set For Panorama Sidebar". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  14. ^ "I Saw the TV Glow". South by Southwest. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ "I Saw the TV Glow". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 29, 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  19. ^ "I Saw the TV Glow". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ 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.

External links[edit]

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