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I Saw the TV Glow Movie Review

I Saw the TV Glow is a 2024 psychological horror film directed by Jane Schoenbrun and starring Justice Smith and Jack Haven. It’s a very mediocre and frustrating movie.

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“Isn’t that a show for girls?“

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A teenager just trying to make it through life in the suburbs is introduced by a classmate to a mysterious late-night TV show. This movie is casually inserted into numerous top ten movies of the year lists, so I had to check it out, but as I had expected, it not only has no business being on those lists, but on any lists for that matter. Maybe on the worst list, that one I can get behind.

The director of the film said that the intention was to make a story about the trans experience and gender dysphoria, but the final product in my opinion has none of those themes in it. It’s one thing to be subtle about your subject and messaging, but it’s a whole thing to be so ambiguous to the point that you can attach anything to your movie freely and with no constraints. But to me this type of filmmaking is both cowardly and lazy.

So yes, the main storyline is not about anything other than perhaps about the dangers of being overwhelmed by nostalgia to the point that you cannot enjoy living in the moment. But the movie is so retro in its feel and tone that it ended up not being contemporary at all. Some have said that it’s both retro and futuristic, but to me those two cannot possibly go together. This is just another overly personal story from an overly personal filmmaker that will only appeal to people who grew up in the nineties or who find themselves in its themes/insert those themes into the project themselves.

I Saw the TV Glow also has one fatal flaw – the casting of Justice Smith. He was fine in ‘Detective Pikachu’, but he was not a good fit for this material at all. I could not buy him in this overly serious role and at times I honestly found him to be quite mediocre. Jack Haven is quite forgettable and others are even less important. The characterization in this movie is very poor.

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Visually, I did dig this movie. The pink titling of transitional scenes worked for me and it gave the movie a sort of feminine and vibrant touch that fitted its narrative well. The soundtrack is also very strong and quite nostalgic fittingly enough. But the editing and pacing are horrendous as the film is boring and lifeless from start to finish. The SF and horror elements are only sporadically introduced and not at all well executed. It’s a waste of time.