Chris Stuckmann reviews I Saw the TV Glow, starring Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Ian Foreman, Helena Howard, Lindsey Jordan, Danielle Deadwyler, Fred Durst. Directed by Jane Schoenbrun.
This film is like 15% “yeah I fuck with this aesthetic,” 35% confusion, and 50% violently clawing into the deepest recesses of your soul and forcing you to look at it.
A24 is a studio that encourages new ideas no matter the outcome. Regardless of quality, I am grateful that at least one studio encourages creativity through risk.
As someone on the spectrum constantly finding ways to behave normal and apologizing constantly for falling short, this movie hit at such a specific personal level for me that I almost broke down crying on the drive home.
I just saw it today and I felt this way too. I've been having some really anxious days, feeling trapped inside my own head just like Owen. I even thought that if i kept thinking too much I might end up having a panic attack. But the ending was a wake up call, i can't let myself rot in the same way, right?
OMG yes. I brought my wife to see it tonight after seeing it by myaelf earlier this week and digesting it for a couple days. Experiencing it again was almost too much at certain points I had to stop myself from shaking and sobbing in the theater. When he says "I don't want to leave my home" and everything that sentence carried in that moment, yeah, it was tough.
As a trans person, this film spoke to me on such a deep level I was holding back tears almost the entire time. The disassociation felt in childhood (and in adulthood if you never come out) the claustrophobia and suffocation felt being in the wrong body, the feeling that you aren’t actually you, and the real you is somewhere but you don’t know where, these are all deep feelings felt by almost every trans person, if you felt any of this throughout this movie, you now understand the trans experience a little better ❤️ beautiful the way it was portrayed, I’ve never seen anything describe it the way this movie did
Just Lynchian vibes overall. I felt big pinches of “Blue Velvet” within this as well, with the two youths trapped in this colorfully dark and twisted world. The bar scene especially…
Calling this movie Lynchian is a felony. From the acting, to the plot line, to the fact this director is clearly a David Lynch fan trying to emulate his cinematography and scene selection, there were just minimal highlights in this film. The part when the credits started rolling was by far the best moment. We have truly reached our lowest point in the history of mankind when movies like this actually receive praise. 2/10 maybe 2.5/10 if I was as blasted on substances as this director clearly was while creating this nightmare of a film.
It feels like a memory because of the little touches. From the Buffy font for the Pink Opaque’s credits, to the Are You Afraid of the Dark campfire, to the iconic song of Broken Social Scene. But like memories over time, everything here is a little off.
I saw this in theaters today with my friends. The ending CRUSHED me. Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine give some incredible performances and the whole thing is shot beautifully. It's a love letter to 90s children TV shows and also a heartbreaking horror with a message. It's instantly at the top of my favorite films to release this year.
I told my husband the same thing last night. That the ending was soul crushing. I also wished my adult kid was closer so I could hug them. But that's an entirely different conversation 🏳️⚧️
It crushed you? You mean after he cut himself open and walked around apologizing like Morty, and then it just ends? How on earth did this poor excuse for a movie make you feel anything?
@@bobbyjohnson8385The movie is a tragedy and a cautionary tale. She said don't apologize. She tried to help him be who he was many times over. He ultimately rejects her and apologizes just for who he is. By the end he is so out of touch with who he really was supposed to be - who he really was, that even the things that used to give him the most joy no longer do. He now believes they were silly kids shows and apologizes to those who dont even care about him just for existi g. What is more horrifying than living our short life (19, 20, 21, 22...) unauthentically and conforming to everything society tells us we should be instead of who we are? I felt the film was absolutely brilliant.
Psychological horror for sure. There was a sense of dread, and a claustrophobia that permeated the movie. The temporal structure was interesting as it was linear, but there were scenes missing (as shown by particular flashbacks), and so it was sort of disorienting. Further, towards the end of the movie, Maddy refers to them being at camp, and it sort of anchored the scene when Owen was at a campfire, but I'm not sure if that even happened, or if this was a way to relate them to the TV show. During the 80s there was a view of TV that argued it was a drug, and that was the vibe you could sense. The depth of their interest in the show wasn't healthy. The show invites the viewer to question: what if the paranormal is real. And then, the notion of reality becomes unstable during the movie. And it seems to hint that maybe there is something occult occurring. There wasn't anything paranormal in the movie per se, but you could sense that "weird stuff" was happening. Or was it? In any case, Maddy's interpretation of the TV show became a bit...literal. And it seems like she goes off the deep end, questioning the what's real, or normal, which can relate to the ideas of gender identity as discussed as gender norms. (As an aside, she sort of takes on the role of Morpheus in the Matrix, asking Owen to believe her view of the world. This isn't a dig at the movie, and I'm not sure if Schoenbrun intended it, but the trans reading of the Matrix connects with this movie. Unlike Neo, Owen doesn't seem to break free) The one thing that kind sort of bothered me is how coy many of the reviews are about Maddy's disappearance. The sequence of events clearly indicate what led up to it. But we're unsure what happened to her. Put another way, one can surmise why she disappeared, but we don't know what happened to her (until later). I was in college during the 90s, so I was worried if the movie was even for someone like me. At any rate, visually it was so good, and this is what piqued my interest. Just found out this movie was produced by Emma Stone, which is interesting.
I had a tv dinner and my stomach was major upset after watching this POS movie. You see the point of this movie is not reality like a CGI movie or some other fake reality you see on TV. Tell me, do CHILDREN have the RIGHT or MENTAL capacity to make changes to their body at 6? Two, can you change your DNA? The answer to the 2 questions is NO! If you answered YES to one or either one, you really are a sick, pervert that needs help. The horror is within people who thought this movie was worth watching. It might be the dumbest and worst movie made since ISHTAR.
Go watch the Nick Knacks retrospective. Don't know exactly when that one would be coming up, but it's gotta be close; it just did Clarissa Explains It All, and The Adventures of Pete & Pete is next.
I was violently transported to The Adventures of Pete and Pete when the movie started, so much that the theme started playing in my head again after 30 years.
Before seeing Chris’ thoughts i’d just like to say this movie is really special to me. i saw it in April and it blew me away, so visually stunning, haunting, uncomfortable, beautiful, moving, touching. what an incredible masterpiece of a movie. i haven’t stopped thinking about it
@@brandadse.1741my sister in law didn’t like it a lot, and that’s totally okay! we all have different views of a movie. this movie is like a 9.5/10 in my eyes and that makes it a masterpiece to me
@@TheCrazysharkguy They needed mr melancholy to bust out of the TV and for owen & maddie to assemble a team to take him down. and then a 30 minute final battle where they defeat him.
I feel like it's worth pointing out, that despite the many interpretations, this is explicitly a Trans story. About a chracter so in denial of their own transness and queerrness, that the repression causes reality to fall apart. I think not mentioning that does a disservice to the movie
While not wrong I think Chris is trying to avoid scaring people away from the film. If you tell a bunch a people it's queer cinema they're gonna bail, including a lot not people who don't quite understand that they are queer yet and really don't want to confront it.
You can project that into the film if you find that relatable for you, but thats not actually in the movie. He's asexual and insecure about his lack of masculinity and she's lesbian but thats the extent of it.
@@RB-.- Straight from the the director's mouth is that Owen is a trans woman. Not to mention that the explicit text of the film is that the protagonist is a young woman named Isabel who is slowly being suffocated by being forced to live as a man named Owen. Additionally the director shot down the notion that Owen is confirmed as asexual, citing a very common experience among trans folks where they're not really certain of their sexuality before they transition because to do that usually means understanding your gender. Not to say that asexual trans people don't exist, it's just that a lot of us didn't understand our sexuality and even believed we were asexual prior to transition. For example, my best friend thought she was asexual and now she's a hypersexual pansexual.
@@QwertyCaesar The director is a transgender so i get thats what they want it to be about but it depends who sees it and what they're struggling with. i get if thats what people relate to it with different strokes for different folks i guess. im just bisexual so for me its about being not straight, not fitting in and not masculine enough in general. hating oneself to the point of daydreaming and obsessing over another possible reality in the tv show to immerse themselves in. but for everyone they can take something else
I love that they actually took the time to film scenes for the In Universe TV show alongside the actual movie. It looked like it was straight out of the 90's, and Justice Smith and Bridgette Lundy Paine gave spectacular performances.
I'm glad Justice Smith has been able to prove himself as a good actor after how annoying I found him in Fallen Kingdom. Bad circumstances will do things to someone.
Yea I really didn't like him in all those franchise movies but after seeing the trailer of this movie I was rooting for him to put on a good performance.
Ultimately I LOVE the soundtrack. It’s been on repeat before and after I saw it. I loved the vibes and cinematography. It’s good to note how Owen kept apologizing at the end when in the beginning Mandy told him to not apologize.
I watched Monster (the movie, not the anime though that's great too) and had to calibrate that 2004 was 20 years ago (it was also funny how much effort they had to go through just to make charlize theron look like mia goth on any given day lol)
@@squidlover7615 getting older has its benefits. You learn to deal with bs a lot better and don’t let it impact you like it did when younger. Plus the older you get just means the more you’ve been able to avoid death which isn’t bad either lol
This is one of the most original and unique films I’ve seen in a LONG time. I’d say it’s between this and Hundreds of Beavers for the best film I’ve seen this year (Challengers, Love Lies Bleeding, and THELMA are right behind it). I’m excited to see it again at some point!
This movie peaked my interest because it reminded me of a popular creepypasta called Candle Cove so I was curious how this movie would pull off this similar concept about a supernatural show
All I knew about this going in was that it was described as like twin peaks and was about a haunted kids show. I thought, "This should be a fun horror movie!" I was destroyed by the end lmao
Sending you a virtual hug for just mentioning "Eerie, Indiana". One of the smartest shows for kids out there and such a lovingly crafted homage to weird genre fiction.
Hey Chris, i read an article that the director is a big fan of Twin Peaks. Have u ever seen it or is there a chance for a David Lynch movie review perhaps?
You saying that the movie felt like a memory to you made the entire movie click for me. I couldn’t explain how I felt about it until I viewed the nostalgic elements as a very specific feeling I had growing up. Such an interesting film. Happy it exists
I couldn't sleep after watching it because I couldn't stop thinking about it and why it affected me so much. Definitely the first horror movie that made me feel existential dread.
I've had the same reaction. I believe, at least for me, it's because at the core it's a bad ending for the character, and it's a bad ending anyone can have. To feel stuck at 40 feeling like your life has passed you by. Justifying to no one why you're staying. It's sad, but we do have the message left before that it's never too late.
I was happy to see Danny Tamberelli listed in the cast list. He had a short cameo, but the entire movie reminded me of The Adventures of Pete and Pete, so it was fitting that the actor that played Little Pete was in this movie.
So happy to see a shout out to So Weird. I miss the old Disney live action shows that were actually interesting and not just a Formulaic copy of each other.
I absolutely love your review, I just seen it yesterday in theaters on my own. When you said this movie “felt like a memory”. Couldn’t have explained it better. This movie also made me feel something that others havent. It was captivating.
Hey, I was in college in the 90s when you were home watching Nick (weird side note, I took a job at Universal in Orlando when Nick was shooting there and often found myself on a SS floor occupied with one of their shows), and I have a very similar experience with this film, that I connect with it personally, like 'it feels like a memory'. Excellent choice of words, I believe I know what you mean. So, no, I don't think one has to be of your generation to experience the film in this way. Yes, I was around in the 90s, but too old for Goosebumps and too busy for Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Nostalgia is still a big part of my connection to this film, which I have to think is in large part due to the way it is crafted. Nostalgia for something I never experienced. By the way, I did get around to Buffy way after the fact and, unless I'm mistaken, The Pink Opaque uses the same opening/closing titles font that Buffy did.
i’m so glad i went into this movie blind. i’m a trans guy from the suburbs, moved to the big city the first second i had the chance. owen is my horror. he is my nightmare ending as a trans person. i couldve been a good christian wife who loved her family “more than anything” and lived and spent that life wanting nothing more than to rot away, distract myself until i eventually died. the way time moves in this film is so sinister, it moves so fast when you’re trying to know who you are but keep that a secret. this movie is a gem, possibly a masterpiece, and so fucking important.
Chris definitely understood it. Just didn't want to scare away people from a good film due to being a little closed-minded. Sometimes you have to trick people into interacting with media that'll get them to open their mind.
Chris, have you ever dove into the works of David Lynch? I feel like your fixations dance around his 90s renaissance. It seems like so many things that have inspired you are a direct influence of him, particularly spinning out of the success of Twin Peaks
I agree with your review and the idea that this movie feels like a memory. I saw it with my daughters and we were discussing it on the way home. I mentioned that the feeling it gave me was similar to Im Thinking of Ending Things.
Did you pay for this at a theater? I saw this for FREE and wanted my money back as I am suing the people who stole 90 minutes from my life. If you liked it, ask yourself 1. Can a Man change his DNA once he is born? 2. Does a CHILD have the CAPACITY to change their PHYSICAL MAKEUP at the AGE of 6? If you answered, yes to either one, you need HELP. REAL HELP.
This film captures how I remember my childhood tv shows better than any other piece of media I’ve seen. That alone made the movie enjoyable, but the atmosphere of the entire film was great even when it wasn’t focusing on the nostalgia
i think people are so desperate for basic entertainment that they're unable to enjoy this movie. this isn't just some marvel movie with a linear plot and brain numbing action scenes. every scene has a reason and even the twist is more of a slow burn rather than a jaw dropping discovery. we're supposed to feel like owen. we're supposed to feel like we're stuck in a stale world that doesn't make much sense. the movie is supposed to be uncomfortable, yet familiar. i was highly anticipating this film only because alex g scored it and it had a theme of nostalgia and emptiness. despite not guessing the twist, the movie was exactly what i expected. this movie felt so personal to me and i absolutely adore it. i can't even put the feeling it portrayed into words, much less direct an entire movie that captures it perfectly
I gotta be honest and say this one really just missed the mark for me. A lot of the symbolism seemed to go over my head on the first watch. Still glad I went to see it, the music and cinematography are great and I’ll support just about any A24 film at this point.
I'm so glad to hear this film is getting good reviews!! My friend loves Schoenbrun's first feature, We're All Going to the World's Fair, and I've been meaning to see that for a while (since it's streaming on Max), but I think I may need to see this one first while it's still in theaters. I'm sure going in "order" doesn't matter here lol
@@goodburger1114 idk why people decided to dogpile on Chris. He loves movies and he shares that love with all of us idk why people like you think it’s ok to demand a certain type of content from someone you don’t even know
i also got david lynch, but way less creepy or weird, vibes from this movie. which i feel really falls in line with its ability to be interpreted in many different ways ways, depending on on the viewer
I can confirm that this movie really hits even if you didn't grow up in the 90s. I've been growing up in the internet age but it was so easy for me to relate my own experiences to Owen's which is so impressive
I didn't grow up in the '90s (I'm a '70s kid), wasn't exposed to Buffy or "Are You Afraid," and yet I had the same experience of nostalgia and identification with the film as you did. I couldn't stop thinking about it and went to see it again - something I have only done for one other film (Annihilation). I was mesmerized. Your description of a crowd looking at a work of art is spot on and also because this wasn't just a "horror" film, it was an expression that was intended and delivered - true art. I was so impressed with this little film and I hope A24 offers an awesome 4k collector package with it like they have done for some of their other films. This was special.
When I went 25% of the audience was confused and 25% were devastated. Though yes, the ending shot will probably either get you to laugh or cry deeply. Even in the happiest interpretation of the ending it's a bittersweet ending. I laughed because I read it that way. The person I was with was devastated because they interpreted it as a profoundly sad ending.
I saw it theaters, I wanted to crack a joke when they had the LG product placement scene but couldn't muster the courage to draw so much attention to myself But overall it was a cry fest yeah
Hey Chris, Re: 90's YA sci fi fantasy shows, you ever heard of a Canadian produced TV series from 92 called The Odyssey. About a kid in a coma looking for his father in a fantasy dream world?
Oh boy. This looks like something that would hit me hard. "The Pink Opaque" is an album by The Cocteau Twins from 1985, which makes me curious as to the implications for we 80s teens and our perception of the story. I'm intrigued, and a little afraid. Thanks for the suggestion.
I have the attention span of a gnat lately and can only consume popcorn movies these days, so I'll have to put seeing this on hold until i can really digest it.
I read it as exploring themes not too dissimilar to Infinite Jest. A commentary on the hollowness of a life lived vicariously through entertainment. And how spiritually destructive such a force is.
This is a mysterious psychological horror film needs to be understood deeply : First, there was no television program. The boy was autistic, as you can notice The way he spoke was unclear and he had no friends and the way his mothere take care of him , The television program and that girl were unreal. It was a scenario he created for himself inside his head and ends with him in crazy way he don't recognize what is reall and what is delusion
DEEEEPLY considering watching this a 3rd time. I saw it at SXSW, then in it's theatrical release date. And I wanna see it again with one of my partners
Who was that? Who paid anyone in this film? I read they were given an option for money or bitcoin? I hope they give them bitcoin and never get paid. The people who give these gold stars probably grew up needing mental health or were abused as children. The only way to avoid more abuse is not to watch this movie. I suggest they show this in all prisons, 24 hours a day, everyday as the people in jail will want to never come back. It is called a deterrent and a way to prevent crime from repeating itself. This movie was a crime as it was made and they need to lock up those who funded it.
I think there is something to be said about Owen repeatedly breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience, like he doesn't believe the TV show was anything more than a TV show... and yet he knows he's in a movie?
I get the undertones that the writer director was going for but for me this was just 90s nostalgia and the show they were watching reminded me of are you afraid of the dark and goosebumps. Was a great movie.
