‘I Saw The TV Glow' REVIEW: More Petrifying Than a Burial
‘I Saw The TV Glow' REVIEW: More Petrifying Than a Burial
Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) shares the night together | Still taken from IMDB
At times, the looking glass reveals nothing but the curious itch of knowing what's beyond perceiving, only to further materialize our denial and confusion in the end. It only does so much as to numb our eyes and redirect the penetrating questions towards ourselves instead. So then, we become our own blisters of insecurities and blame games that we always need to scrape out of habit.
Any amount of bandaging by our own hands will never be adequate enough to outdo the mouths of others. We rely on them whenever we want to see ourselves, though twice the time it takes us to realize it should be the other way around. It's the sad truth. This is where countless forms of media come into place, lending a breathable outlet for our muted pleas and sentiments without the worry of any judgment. If anything, pop culture has always spurred our desire to escape and find belonging outside of our current bodies and circumstances.
In I Saw The TV Glow, the fringes of the screen become corrosive.
We are absorbed in a puzzling yet ultimately exceptional character portrait that explores how media forms a synaptic channel for necessary projections, stifled anxiety, and grief, in order to salvage a possible trace of security, all while delivering a trans undertone that climaxes in something so tragic but maintains warmth.
Jane Schoenbrun expertly presents all of this with a superiorly original vision that is grounded in a clear sense of radicalism, both in its social commentary and filmic language.
Fiction overtakes Owen and Maddy’s reality | Still taken from IMDb
Coming back after the restrained 2021 lo-fi analog horror We're All Going to the World's Fair with an expanded scale and budget in mind, Schoenbrun's second directorial outing establishes a '90s suburbia, convincingly damped in retro-resolution and eerie nostalgia blushes.
It maps the narrative of Owen (Ian Foreman, who eventually ages into becoming Justice Smith later on), who is very reserved and rarely talks, forging a strangely close bond with the similarly indifferent Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Painethrough) through "The Pink Opaque." It's a midnight TV show that's textured with a lot of terrifyingly peculiar skits, intentionally questionable acting and referential callbacks that add up to the believability of the film's media milieu.
They're very obsessive about the show, which can be felt in how they quickly straighten their backs just to talk about it without ever twitching. It's almost as though they have known each other for decades, their eyes bleed with so much interest and passion. Both of them have bottlenecked longing to discover how to cleave themselves with others, struggling to fit within the stares that are tucked in every corner. What arises from a mere show is a mutual refuge: conversation and an overnight stay.
The film depicts this relationship that goes in different phases in sleek fashion, with framing that is tight and stylistically alluring. It contains elements that are both unsettling and calming.
Not to mention, the taste-setter soundtrack that includes Phoebe Bridgers and Caroline Polachek, which punctures build ups and sequences with a clandestine sense of melancholy and rage. Even the color grading is given delicate attention as it creates thematic associations that are very rewarding to notice.
One element of I Saw The TV Glow that can either alienate or immerse viewers is how the plot is rendered, because it can admittedly become tedious in certain parts which attempt to incorporate story exposition in its continuous experimental flavor. It can be intriguing at best but inert at worst. While it can be argued that it's too ambiguous for its own good, I believe it couldn't be farther from the truth of its intent. The film captivates with immense panache beyond what it demands; why not give it the openness and time it deserves?
Owen embraces Maddy after a very long time | Still taken from IMDb
As a matter of fact, its symbolic storytelling effectively channels the film's overarching subtext that delves deep in the turbulent process of piecing together one's raw identity. Unpredictability is the fright and the performances are the setup. Schoenbrun considers this film as a trans narrative conceived in their act of un-repression, evident in the intense display of unfiltered emotions that burst in the most messy, scarring and somewhat beautiful way.
With proven tenacity and penchant for creatively hardline and transformative direction, it is no surprise that this is one of the finest unconventional films that does justice to the queer identity. Although I may not entirely grasp all the nuances of their experiences, I found myself earnestly invested, engaged, and enlightened by the film. Jane Schoenbrun is truly a promising auteur who commands the momentum rather than being swept along passively.
I Saw The TV Glow offers leeway for those who can't bear their reflection, who seek to control the uncontrollable, and who wish to dismiss themselves. It assures them that there is still time — to look in the mirror and embrace the love they owe to themselves, one that is anything but opaque.
Because neglecting oneself is more disquieting than the finality of a burial.
