Review: Proudly bizarre 'I Saw the TV Glow" will boggle your mind – and that's the point

The proudly bizarre horror movie “I Saw the TV Glow” will likely spark many a “What the heck did I just watch?” reaction – which in this case, is a good thing because there’s no right answer. 

A story of two lonely youngsters and their shared favorite TV show, transgender writer/director Jane Schoenbrun’s eerily immersive and discomforting dive into 1990s suburbia is a well-acted coming-of-age queer allegory and also an intriguing pop-culture deconstruction.

Like “Donnie Darko” or David Lynch’s entire oeuvre, “Glow” (★★★ out of four; rated R; in select theaters now, nationwide Friday) blends the real and the surreal in a neon-drenched nightmare that leaves a trail of thematic breadcrumbs for its audience. And sure, it could be way more straightforward and less artistically cryptic, but that commitment to entrancing weirdness is part of the movie's special sauce and pretty much Schoenbrun’s whole deal.

Their confident debut, the 2022 film festival find “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair,” was a hauntingly trippy, COVID-19-era cautionary tale centered on the virtual worlds where isolated kids wander. “I Saw the TV Glow” offers a larger, more challenging narrative with a throwback vibe.

Twelve-year-old Owen (Ian Foreman) comes along when his mom (Danielle Deadwyler) works an election night at school. In the empty cafeteria, he meets teenager Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), who’s reading a book about the TV series “The Pink Opaque.” She asks him if he’s seen it; he hasn’t but is enamored of commercials for this show, about two girls with a psychic connection who take on weekly supernatural threats. (Think “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” back in the day.)

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“Pink Opaque” comes on after Owen’s bedtime, so he sneaks out at night to watch it with Maddy. As years go by – with Justice Smith playing anxious, asthmatic Owen from 14 to adulthood – they form a close bond, using the show as a transfixing escape from their troubled households. One day Maddy disappears, leaving only her flaming TV behind, and "Pink Opaque" is abruptly canceled. Almost a decade later, Maddy shows back up as a clearly changed person, and her reappearance as well as Owen's continued obsession over this show take a toll on his mental well-being.

A nonbinary filmmaker, Schoenbrun infuses "Glow" with personal metaphor, aiming to capture the feelings of a trans person seeking and finding who they truly are: In one scene, Maddy asks Owen if he likes girls or boys and he responds, “I think I like TV shows.” At the same time, they successfully create a landscape relatable to anyone who’s felt like an outsider in their own skin or home. And it all will feel uncannily familiar for those who grew up in the film’s mid-1990s setting, from what’s on that glowing TV screen to Fruitopia drink machines in school.

There are many layers that build out the atmosphere. Schoenbrun intersperses scenes from “Pink Opaque” that feel like a fuzzy escape from the psychologically wrought main plot, with the walls weirdly breaking down between them. There are incidental musical moments – including a cameoing Phoebe Bridgers – straight out of the “Twin Peaks” Roadhouse, and inspired by the likes of "Buffy" and "The X-Files," Schoenbrun unleashes villainous creatures of the “monster of the week” TV variety, like big bad man-in-the-moon Mr. Melancholy, that toe the line between cheesy and freaky.

Alongside themes of sexuality, identity and human connection, the cultural aspect of “I Saw the TV Glow” will hit home, especially for modern audiences. Our collective fandom for TV shows and movies can bring us together but can corrupt as well when what we watch becomes our everything. The movie offers a strong take on the dangers of nostalgia, and what happens when it ventures from needed sanctuary to a repressive prison.

So you might have no idea what the heck you just watched, especially with the rather abrupt ending, but there’s plenty to chew on and think about afterward.