User reviews

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.

No judgment. Definitely not a traditional "horror" film, but scary none the less. I was a freshman girl in 1996. This is what it felt like.... Fighting to get to the next season of our lives. Fighting to be understood and to understand ourselves. We were in such a hurry to grow up we didn't fully appreciate our youth. Some of us didn't make it. I did and I wonder which outcome is better. We die quickly or we die slowly. This film made me feel very seen and also scared for the next generations. Some things are better and some are way worse. If we do it or not our teenage selves die... it's all about if we become something better. The question is "What is better?"

It features many dynamite indie rockers (both in cameos and musically), it started off great with interesting characters and EXCELLENT aesthetics - as a millennial, I felt a lot of nostalgia for similar shows I used to watch growing up. Ultimately though, the story fell apart and offered little substance.

The film has an interesting and societally relevant theme, but I think that's where this falls flat - a great film may elicit the response:

"That was a great story - what were its most prominent themes?"

But instead I found myself asking:

"That was an interesting theme - what were its most prominent plot lines?"

A deeply sad, heartfelt, surrealist film that is very likely to be the most unique American film released in 2024, and even more likely to be misunderstood by at least 75% of its viewers. On the surface, it's one of the most locked-in mid-90's nostalgia pieces I've ingested, but beneath that it's one of the most complex coming-of-age films I can think of.

To me, the movie was an expression of the kids who grew up in dysfunctional families in the 90's (the TV generation), those who were drawn to dark media due to that (which was extremely prevalent in the late 80's up through the mid 90's), and in turn, those who ended up with a far deeper connection with those dark fantasy worlds than they had with most other humans, and reality as a whole. When it's time to grow up, things get rough...I can relate, because I was 100% one of those kids during that exact era, so this one hit a lot of buttons that made a lot of sense for me.

There are some impressively unique horror/monster effects in this film, that are equal parts comical and terrifying, simultaneously, which feels like yet another element that is heavily loyal to the era it is inspired by. This, along with many other elements, allow this movie to differentiate itself pretty boldly from everything else coming out right now. Common horror fans will likely just be confused by this film, which tends to be the case with most psychological horror films that actually offer anything with emotional purpose, but it offers plenty of cerebral scares and lots of melancholic gloom.

Leads Brigette Lundy-Paine and Justice Smith do an immense job of keeping things deathly serious and dreamlike, Smith almost feeling like he fittingly "can't handle being human" a lot of the time. There are several sequences where their performances bring the movie to a full Lynchian realm - of course this is also due to visionary director Jane Schoenbrun's skilled directing. Speaking of that, I just realized that the segment that feels most like a nod to Lynch in a multitude of ways is the one that features bands performing live at a strange club, much like the Road House in the last season of Twin Peaks. Kris Esfandiari of King Woman makes an especially strong appearance here. It certainly doesn't hurt that they put together a very tasteful soundtrack that feels very reminiscent of the classic movie soundtracks of the 90's. It's fitting that the movie and soundtrack begin with a Broken Social Scene cover, because the whole album kind of feels like a full Broken Social Scene album, with similar dynamics and vibes throughout.

While it's truly hard to compare this to anything, it feels HIGHLY inspired by ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, the Canadian kids horror program broadcast in the 90's on Nickelodeon, more than anything, while it's themes remind me only of a couple other movies, Pixar's INSIDE OUT, and the very wild SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK. While I cried my eyes out at that Pixar movie, this one is too committed to its surrealism and gloom to induce actual tears, but the overall melancholy remains very heavy and very real throughout.

This is a movie about the weirdos who found solace in media for weirdos. Brilliantly, the movie itself is weird (and sincere) enough to be that exact sort of weird type of media that the new young weirdos may find the same kind of solace in when they watch this as a teenager in reality now. I think that might be the whole point. If it wasn't, then it's awfully masterful accident. That's 2 strikingly unique and effective psychological horror films by Jane Schoenbrun now, 2 for 2...I officially deem thee a visionary force to be reckoned with.

I cannot stress this enough, this is one of the worst films I've ever seen. I kept waiting for something to happen. My girlfriend and I kept waiting for something to happen. That thing that hooks you in to show you that indeed there is a story happening and you're not wasting your time.

That moment never came. I love weird. I love art house. But this was just art house indulgence. I respect that there is probably more going on with this film's message that I'm not seeing and I elect to do more research. But I won't waste my time and sit through it again. If the message is THAT buried and it's "left up to interpretation" then I think the mission of the film is lost imo. Im not a filmmaker so I can't judge too hard. But as a songwriter if my song isn't clear the audience won't always connect to it. I think it's going to be very hard for audiences to connect with this film on a deeper level due to its lack of clarity to its point. Beau is Afraid was more clear than this...

I think this film, particularly its story and message is aimed to specific people and issues. It really feels as a cathartic film about discovering and accepting oneself, specially sexually.

It didn't touch me close in that matter, but I appreciate and respect what it tries to do.

I found the creepy atmosphere and style interesting, and the slow pace helped to the feeling of loneliness and anguish, building up to the main character's feel.

The performances were good, I didn't particularly like the characters, it's probably not the kind of personalities that interest me for a story focus, but they serve well in this case.

As a side note, I was shocked to read afterwards that Owen's father was Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst! Unrecognizable!

Overall, it's not a bad movie, the slow burn, creepy atmosphere and story could serve as a horror film for some, but I don't see it that way, for me it's a sort of psychologic, experimental, art house drama with a creepy style, but I wouldn't call it horror.

I found the story to be very sad, actually.

The trailer for this movie got me somewhat interested, and then reading these reviews which I think were written by the studio along with everyone that worked on this film made me thing that this was a watchable movie. About 45 minutes into the movie, I was in awe that nothing interesting had happened. About an hour and ten minutes in, I was flabbergasted that I had somehow missed the conflict of the film. What is the plot? Where is this going? Is this a very very long TV pilot.

Then I shut off the movie. I don't know what happens, but I don't think that it does. Happen. Nothing. I felt good about saving those minutes of my life to do something else.

Like most people that gave this honest reviews, the flashback sequences were very hard to understand/hear. The actor choice of the main character was confusing when he jumps 2 years and looks like a completely different person, but then 8 years later looks exactly the same. I thought I missed a story about his younger brother or something. Don't waste your time on this.

I've been meaning to watch this movie for a while, but I had been putting it off because I didn't want to have to pay to watch it. I bit the bullet tonight, turned it on my computer. I don't know if words can describe how this movie made me feel. At the end, I was just left with this pit in my chest that felt physically painful. I'm still crying writing this, and I can't explain why.

The cinematography is otherworldly, the colors are beautiful and the song choices fit the tone appropriately. It was nothing like I thought it was going to be.

And it was everything I needed to hear.

This movie isn't made for people who know who they are. It's not made for people who have everything figured out, people who like a good story or an action filled movie. This is made for the people who need it. I'm one of those people.

I can't describe it. You can't put into words something that changes your life. Please just watch it, the worst you lose is two hours of your time.

What you can gain, though, is greater than you'd ever expect from 100 minutes.

There is still time.

What did I just watch? This might rank as the worst film I've ever seen and only the 2nd time in my 48 yr old life I've walked out of a movie. I can tell you the trailers are BS. I was expecting something kitschy in the vein of Poltergeist maybe but this certainly wasn't a horror or a thriller for that matter. I don't know what the hell it was. If its aim was to be weird, I love weird but it wasn't that either. It was the most pretentious, boring, nonsensical piece of garbage I've seen in years! There is no plot, no real character development, no tension, horrible audio(could barely tell what they were saying at times),the characters aren't likable whatsoever, the music was awful, the idea that he aged two years into a completely different person who looked nothing like him was ridiculous. We sat through as much as we could and finally left 10 minutes before it was over. That's how bad it was. It felt like an angsty 12 year old made it. It was worse that bad because it was so damn BORING. Total waste of an afternoon.

Christ, I don't think words can describe the experience this gave me. This movie was made for transgender teens and the two ends of the spectrum that spring from it: Recognizing you're trans and accepting it by transitioning, and not knowing/accepting you're trans and not transitioning.

I truly cried heavy tears while watching this and recognizing myself in the characters and what they were saying. The colors were used spectacularly being a symbol of femininity, masculinity, and androgyny. I understood every little symbol and experience that they were representing. I feel that people who don't understand the movie are people who have not been friends with a trans person/are cis and only looked at the bare surface of what was being shown. I understand being confused, I was when I watched it for the first time, but if you don't understand something, that doesn't mean it's bad. If you didn't understand this movie, research about it! Even if you think it's bad, it affected a lot of people who are/were trans/queer emotionally and left me, and others I know, thinking about it for days. To finally feel seen and understood in a piece of art this beautiful is so emotionally powerful. 10/10.

A sullen teenager discovers an entrancing television show that speaks to him in ways he's never envisioned when he meets and develops an eccentric friendship with an older girl in his school. While this film turns out to be something a bit more than an archetypal coming-of-age fare, it's quite comfortable staying in that genre most of the time. It never really scratches the surface of horror, despite suggesting the vibe at times. You might not know what to make of this when all it's said and done and I readily confess that I still do not. In the end you either run with the film's committed strangeness or you don't. If you're expecting a straightforward conclusion, this most likely is not for you.

Philosophically, this film is right up my alley, notwithstanding my reservations about the protagonist, who at times seems pitiable. The theme of holding onto adolescent fixations through the years even as they become antiquated and caricature-like is something that strikes near and dear to me. How well it's conveyed here is a matter of debate. The film's whimsical vibe sometimes queers the pitch of this rich concept that's at work. But in the end, it's a good quirky indie that never tries to be something it's not. For those who understand this notion, this film is happily recommended.

Reviews are mixed on this movie, and I can see why. I'm on the fence about a few stylistic choices. But my biggest gripe was that it wasn't a horror movie. It's a moody and bit spooky sometimes, and some parts that gave me full body chills. The moments of sadness and desperation were very moving. But no payoff on the horror front.

That aside, I really enjoyed it. It was like Beau Is Afraid meets Twin Peaks season 3 meets Brigsby Bear meets Us, to name a few. The influences are obvious, but it still was a good film on its own.

This movie has very relatable themes. Those who aren't LGBTQIA+ such as myself can still identify with the coming of age troubles, among others. I found myself discovering old feelings and memories, and identifying with the lead character strongly. And it offered me a glimpse into a wholly new perspective as well.

It's a good movie, and I'm glad I was able to watch it in theaters. It's a step above an indie movie, but it's far from a masterpiece. It's visually stunning and goes deep. But the story and storytelling fall a bit short.

Very strong and very beautiful film, which greatly respects the viewer's intelligence, with one of the best endings in recent years.

Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to connect for people with little proximity or sensitivity to issues of identity, sexuality, or even simple internal conflicts.

The hallucinatory visual language of the film, unfortunately, gives off a very arrogant air to popular audiences accustomed to directors lacking in nuance with the delicacy of a jackhammer like Alex Garland, Nolan, A. Dominik and Ridley Scott.

Which unfortunately keeps many away from giving a genuine chance.

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.

It's not that 'I Saw The TV Glow (2024)' takes a while to settle into itself, as it knows exactly what it is and is unashamed to be it right from its opening moments, but rather that it takes a while for you to settle into its unique rhythm. The purposefully slow pacing asks quite a lot of the audience, with some early scenes even bordering on being boring. Thankfully, the picture rewards your patience; when it poses its compelling central question around the midway mark, it becomes clear that each and every moment building up to it has been completely necessary. The work done to establish the nostalgic malaise so core to the feature's identity is what allows you to engage with its relatively strange concept almost as soon as it becomes apparent. You don't question the importance of the TV show both main characters are obsessed with or the impossibility of the idea that maybe that same show is more real than reality itself. Instead, you become immersed in the ramifications of the affair's thesis, willing to accept both ambiguous interpretations of the narrative as equally valid outcomes. At the same time, while the cryptic mechanics of the story may leave room for uncertainty, the allegory at the heart of the piece pierces your heart straight through the gentle glow of your own TV. There's no mistaking what this is about. The subtly presented exploration of identity, self, and the way in which these constructs intersect with one's lived experience of reality are no less powerful simply because they aren't spelled out at any point. This is the kind of film that creeps up on you and then punches you in the gut, an experience so relatable - even if you aren't going through what its characters are going through (imagine how potent it would be if you are) - that it almost hurts. Its use of startling uncanny imagery and uncomfortable confronting concepts make it genuinely disturbing at times, and the neon haze of its beautifully desolate world goes hand-in-hand with the universal isolation of both its filmmaking and its story.

It isn't perfect, though. Although it ultimately pays off, its pacing is an undeniable barrier to entry and the picture's overall success doesn't quite erase the impact of its less engaging segments. The story itself could also be considered slightly dangerous due to its incredibly relatable nature and the way in which it conflates an important transitional element with potentially harmful behaviour. Metaphorically, it works really well, but there is the possibility that a vulnerable audience member may draw the wrong conclusions from the affair if they identify strongly with its themes (this apparently did happened to director Jane Schoenbrun, who had to disabuse someone's misinterpretation of the feature's message). The decision to have Justice Smith portray the fourteen-year-old version of his character also distances you from him during this section; it's more jarring because a younger actor takes on the role when the character is around twelve. Personally, I feel it would have been better to have the younger actor stick around for that segment, because it's so obvious that Smith is in his late twenties that no amount of acting could ever make him seem fourteen. The other route would have been to have Smith portray the role right the way through, as is the case with Brigette Lundy-Paine, as this would make it clear that the casting is a wholly stylistic choice and you'd be able to adjust to it earlier rather than being pulled out of one of the more important segments of the film. Smith and Lundy-Paine are both good in general, though, and their deliberately stilted delivery adds to the uncanny nature of the flick. The same can be said of most of its oddities and issues, really. This is a strange film by design, and that's one of the things that makes it so beguiling. It stays with you not only because of the power of its content, but also because it's not quite like anything you've ever seen before.

In the end, this is a surprisingly powerful picture that benefits greatly from its bizarre nature. It doesn't hold your hand and is all the more interesting because of it. Although it has notable flaws, it's the kind of film that rewards patience and has something important to say. While it doesn't mean as much to me (I'm not directly reflected by the characters), I really love the fact that it will mean a lot to a lot of people.

It's nicely shot a bunch of intentionally bad acting of rather shallow script.

I didn't give it rating of 1 because the movie did awake a wide range of emotions, but unfortunately those mostly had to do with fighting urge of rage quitting. It was rather clear it's not going to get any better, and that's after seeing through the major plot points I was later surprised I was right about, after reading about interview with the director.

Do yourself a favor and stay clear away, unless you're too high to fight this mess of a movie. The time is too precious to be wasted, and even the visuals and music don't make up for the rest.