I Saw The TV Glow - Review 

I'm very interested in checking this out. Unfortunately not many showings for the film. I think everyone struggles with identity throughout life so that should be relatable

Looking forward to seeing this one. It’s been an interesting year in film with so many movies feeling marketed incorrectly. You cracking the code mid review is hilarious and real 😂. And yeah if A24 is gonna do one thing it’s swing for the fences in the 3rd act

Saw this one last night...And unfortunately this style of film really is just not for me. This new wave of experimental and atmospheric horror adjacent films is just not what I wanna engage with. Skinamarink, The Outwaters, We're All Going To the World's Fair...Even though those are more out there than this film, I just can't buy in. Glad you at least dug it more than I did, because I'm not rushing to rewatch this one anytime soon. Great review, TJ!

I absolutely loved it. As a trans autistic person who met my (also trans & autistic) partner as a weird and sad isolated teenager through sharing TV/movies/video games, the film starkly (and beautifully) reflects my own lived experiences. I am thankful that you acknowledge that the characters in the film are SUPPOSED to be awkward: so many reviews that I have seen are saying that the acting style is just for the sake of being pretentious, when really these are two obviously depressed possibly neurodivergent and nearly-entirely-friendless kids/teens/adults. Of course they're going to sound/act "weird", lol! I think the third act really knocks it out of the park. I think your struggle to "crack the code" is likely due to that cultural/life experience difference that you mentioned. I can think of two specific divisive examples where there seems to be a large discrepancy between cis interpretations and trans interpretations. ~ SPOILERS AHEAD! ~ Firstly, is the world of the Pink Opaque the "true" reality? I do not think that the movie supports an answer of "no". Owen, regardless of the reality/unreality of the Pink Opaque, is exploring his gender/experiencing gender dysphoria: this is factual and textual. The inarguable metaphor of the film likens being trans to feeling like you are from another world, your heart ripped out, the real self buried and suffocating, while you are brainwashed into another role, time slipping away. Maddy/Tara's chalk scribblings on the road are the thesis of the film: "there is still time". If we read the Pink Opaque as fiction, Maddy (and Owen) as delusional, and the football field burial as an act of suicidality, this thesis, "there is still time", can only mean there is still time to kill yourself. I do not think that this film is telling trans people and any other people who relate to the metaphor of the film that they should just kill themselves, nor do I believe that it is a film that derives its horror from an idea that trans or otherwise marginalized people are particularly susceptible to delusional thinking in reaction to their friends. If we read the Pink Opaque as reality, "there is still time" becomes the hopeful thesis that I think is emotionally obvious: there is still time to save yourself (to transition, when looking through the trans angle), and the horror is primarily derived from the feelings that bubble within Owen constantly and our watching of him stuff this knowledge/acceptance of "wrongness" back down in the aftermath of the heightened panic attack segments. Owen always has the reality of the Pink Opaque and Isabel inside of him- even in old age, with the suffocating "asthma" of Isabel buried alive, he can still look inside and see the static of the TV glow. He need only act on this reality. This leads me to my second example: the scene where Owen is rewatching the Pink Opaque on streaming, saying that it actually wasn't scary at all and was just embarrassing. Seeing this in theaters, with my trans partner, as a trans person, we both came to the same conclusion instantaneously: this scene is Owen downplaying his memories of the Pink Opaque's reality (and his exploration of trans identity) as a negative coping mechanism. If he can convince himself that the Pink Opaque (and his true identity as Isabel) is naive and phony, associating with it embarrassing and shameful, he will not have to feel so pained about his rejection of these two facts. This kind of line of thought is very common in struggling LGBT people: think of every middle aged repressor who says that they "grew out of it". I do not really see this scene (or any of the film at all) as being a commentary on the toxicity of nostalgia (an interpretation by others that completely shocked me), as, like you mentioned, the Pink Opaque is a source of strength and comfort for the characters otherwise, allowing them to bond with each other socially and act as a place of mental respite. Were either of those two aspects part of what was a bit confusing for you? I'd love to hear your perspective.

Great review man def sounds like a decent watch especially if your at that stage of not knowing what you want to do in life but from what I saw in the trailer I honestly don’t think I’ll check it out

How are you doing today and how your day? I saw the TV glow is half the sentence. I am going to fill in the blank. I saw the TV glow and pass this up like hot potato. When I think of the glow, I think of the movie the last dragon with Shonuff. I saw the preview at the movie theater and was like nope. But I will say this. I am here to enjoy your commentary review.

It’s definitely not a horror film at all. Mis marketed. I didn’t care for it. I just didn’t care for the leads at all. It felt pretentious to me but, to each their own connecting with it.

I would not call the film a coming of age. More like a subversion of the trope. You can't call the slow death of an individual, with only the smallest glimmer of hope at the very end a "coming of age film". Specially not when it ends with the character once again repressing.