phancy.com - horror reviews - MOH 2024

I Saw the TV Glow



IMDb Info

Release Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 40m
Country: USA, UK
Language: English
Genre Tags: Drama, Horror
Plot Summary: A teenager is trying to survive life in the suburbs when a classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night television show.

Poster - Title Card


phancy.com rating:

phancy.com notes: Masterful control of its Lynchian tone. Like Lynch's work, it's not quite a horror movie, but the sense of fear and sadness is palpable and unsettling. Also like Lynch, everything is metaphor, something misremembered, a delusion, or all three of the above. It's a very intuitive film where plot is second to how the characters feel about their lives. Both leads are phenomenal and pushed my empathy button hard. They both feel so very real and I wanted to be their friend and hug them both. Ultimately a coded story of coming out gay and/or trans with an ambiguous ending that's either profoundly sad or minorly uplifting. The truest terror is staring into yourself and accepting the truths within. This is a very affecting film, and I'm still thinking about it.


Outside Reviews:

Robert Daniels
4 ouf of 4 stars - rogerebert.com

Far too often, when filmmakers graduate up the ledger, they become conservative, safe, and careerist; it feels like they’re making the current film solely with the mindset of remaining at the budgetary level they’ve just attained. With “I Saw the TV Glow,” the director’s glossy follow-up to their resourcefully executed “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” Schoenbrun films like a director who doesn’t want to live in regret of the shot they didn’t get, the risk not taken, the leap that never left the ground. The earworm original soundtrack, exciting practical effects, intoxicating photography, and risky editing—blending together conscious and imagined worlds—are the big, adventurous swings of an undaunted filmmaker.