I Saw the TV Glow

The subdued and crushingly familiar surface of the suburban existence that teenaged Owen (Justice Smith) knows all too well begins to crack the moment he encounters the late-night television program The Pink Opaque. Steeped in mysterious visions of the supernatural, the show becomes a point of bonding between him and a classmate (Brigette Lundy-Paine)—and, years later, when it’s abruptly canceled, the unnerving alternate universe it envisioned begins to seep into the duo’s everyday reality. A troubling, richly atmospheric, and wildly original film about the pleasures and perils of pop-culture escapism and self-identification from We’re All Going to the World’s Fair’s Schoenbrun, who makes the leap from micro-budget origins.

Directed by Jane Schoenbrun

2024 | USA | English language | DCP

Rated PG-13