I Saw the TV Glow

This film should not be labeled as a horror movie in my honest opinion. Perhaps it would be better off labeled as a teen, coming of age, sci-fi, drama? To be honest I'm actually not even sure, it's a bit difficult to even label what genre it's exactly supposed to be. Even the synopsis on IMDB doesn't feel like it's a good way to say what the movie is about.

I get the messages that it all tried to convey but the fact that so much of the dialogue was delivered in a quite a slow and monotone way just ended up making it feel boring in the long run.

I'm not going to tell you that it's a horrible movie, but it most definitely just wasn't for me.

I am a straight white man, and I liked this movie. I watched it this evening. After letting it sink in and after dwelling on it, I came here. I skimmed the user reviews. First of all, if you didn't finish watching the movie, then you shouldn't review it.

A lot of people who didn't like it criticized the acting. To me the acting felt like awkward teenagers being awkward teenagers.

A lot of the people who did like it saw it as a queer/trans allegory. Rock on, good for them.

I saw it as a reminder of the awkwardness of being a teenager, trying to make new friends. The obsession with a TV show reminded me how sometimes a TV show can become your identity and can sometimes help you survive said teenage awkwardness. (For me it was The X-Files.) Go in with an open mind and let its atmosphere draw you in.

Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun made a highly atmospheric little film a couple of years ago called ' We're All Going To The Worlds Fair' on a shoestring budget but the film left an inedible impression on me that I included it on my ten best of the year.

The follow up continues the same microscopic view of adolescence, loneliness and social exclusion that still retains the same wonderful wintry neon feel as the previous film. See also the classic 'It Follows' and ' Rivers Edge'-these all perfectly capture the inner feelings of the characters; bored teenagers in middle small town America caught in a mystery.

It is talky and slow and I get if some will be put off. I didn't take to the characters breaking the 'fourth wall' and start speaking directly to the camera; it felt like the audience had to be spoon fed exactly what the character is feeling.

The acting is excellent from Justice Smith and Brigette Lunday-Paine and young Ian Foreman as the young Owen. Bringing a vulnerable, isolated look on the faces. Is there a hint of abuse here?

I felt like I did in the 90s with 'Twin Peaks' where I wanted to dive straight into the TV set and be in the dark and magical small US town (there are lots of 'Lynchian' references here, not just the photography and sound but the musical interlude in the small bar) Like the similar 'Beau is Afraid' (ageing) this is a smart, extremely well done expressionist horror that I may not want to see again in a hurry but will stay in my mind for a long time.

I can understand if this movie is divisive because it doesn't meet the audience halfway. You have to stick with it and figure it out.

The ostensible story is, two alienated teenagers who find a tenuous connection to each other via a cultish series called The Pink Opaque, which is a bit like Buffy the Vampire Slayer made by David Lynch.

By the end, the theme emerges: how people suffocate their own lives by ignoring or cutting out their own hearts.

The story could have been told just by depicting Owen's sad, stunted life. The fantastical elements are there to make the theme more obvious, not to mention far more entertaining.

This isn't a horror movie, unless you see the horror of a sad, wasted life. The segment where Owen re-watches The Pink Opaque on "streaming" is particularly chilling in its implications.

Bridgette Lundy-Paine delivered their lines like they were being fed to her through an ear piece. The terrible acting completely took me out of the universe the director was trying to convey. There were too many boring, drawn out monologues delivered monotonously without emotion, it almost became comical. It's really hard to connect to characters who show no resolve whatsoever. There were interesting themes but they were poorly executed, wish there was more emotional depth. There are so few actors with lines that these poor performances stick out like a sore thumb. Film has the vibe of a CW show written by an angsty teen who loves LED lighting.