I Saw The TV Glow (2024) Review

"This isn't what life is supposed to be"

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Not many movies can be both unsettling and beautiful, but this one was. Jane Schoenbrun captured the pain of growing up and trying to discover who you are in the world in the most perfect way, using the uncertainty of one's identity as it's own horror concept.

The movie follows a character named Owen (played by Justice Smith) over the course of 30 years. It begins when he is in 7th grade, and meets a girl named Maddy (played by Brigette Lundy-Paine) who introduces him to a creepy kids show called Pink Opaque. Over the years, Owen's reality starts to break as the show reflects his own life, which is an idea then solidified by Maddy's breakdown 12 years after they met, as she fears that she is in the wrong "universe", and her real world is within the show itself.

Using media consumption in order to explore the idea of finding one's identity reflected in fictional characters has made this one of the most important and relavent coming of age movies of our generation. Not only does it allow us to see how easy it is to find parts of yourself in everything, but the movie also considers how difficult it can then be to accept yourself for who you are - thinking you should be more, but still being unable to reach it until it begins to affect your life as a whole, physically and mentally. Schoenbrun constructed these messages so carefully, and executed them so perfectly, making this movie into one of the greatest films I've seen in a long time.

Not only does Schoenbrun explore the theme of the sense of self, but also the use of nostalgia as both an escape and a prison, as it allows Owen to avoid his worries by enjoying the show he once loved as a child, yet still it remains a constant reminder of the person he was too afraid to become. Furthermore, it shows how silly certain fears can be when you are young, as Owen recalls the fear he felt when he first watched Pink Opaque, which now appears to be a cheesy, dated kids show upon his rewatch during adulthood - showing how scary everything seems when someone is so young, and how not facing these fears as you grow older makes them seem just as scary, when in reality it is just their imagination, and things are not as scary as they were once believed to be.

Smith and Lundy-Paine were both so perfectly cast in this movie, carrying their roles with the right level of unsurity and fear. Lundy-Paine gave a mesmorising performance, and everytime she was on screen she took my breath away, especially during her monologue. I have never felt such a suffocating silence in a cinema before, and it amplified the experience in the best way possible.

The colours of the movie were beautiful, and added to the off-putting yet pleasing vibes of the movie. One part that truly captured me was the soundtrack - each song fit the movie perfectly, and I have been listening to it ever since leaving the cinema.

Schoenbrun has created the perfect metaphor for struggling with one's identity, and I know that this movie will resonate with people in the best way possible, almost as a form of comfort. I have not been left speechless from a film like this in so long, and I am thankful to this movie for allowing me to experience such a refreshing feeling like this again.