Do you ever feel out of place in your family, your community, this world or even your own skin? That inexplicable feeling plagues Owen in "I Saw the TV Glow", directed by Jane Schoenbrun. In this distinctive coming of age drama, a young man seeks comfort in a formative TV show that alters his perception of reality.
Justice Smith stars as Owen, a young man growing up in the suburbs in the late 1990s. While his peers are busy engaging in romantic relationships and extra-curricular activities, Owen struggles to find his passion. One day, he meets Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), a similarly withdrawn teen who introduces him to the bizarre young adult TV show The Pink Opaque. The pair soon bond over their newfound obsession, which gradually embeds into their psyche. Before long, they both desire to escape into the world of The Pink Opaque and eventually to begin question whether this fantasy world is a real place.
The show within the show itself is an interesting creation. Visually and tonally reminiscent of a Nickelodeon TV show in the vein of Are You Afraid of the Dark, its low budget aesthetics and creepiness imbue the film with a strong sense of nostalgia. Furthermore, its narrative of a pair of anxiety-ridden teens fighting against a supervillain aptly named Mr. Melancholy, further emphasizes the broader themes of the film.
Indeed, it's no surprise that "I Saw the TV Glow" has been embraced as an allegory for the trans experience. As Owen and Maddy explicitly discuss their confusion about their sexuality and identity within heteronormative expectations, their characters surely resonate with sympathetic viewers. Furthermore, Schoenbrun's liberal use of neon pink and purple hues and the emo rock interludes establish a strong atmosphere of teen angst through a prism of queerness.
That angst is made physically manifest in the film's impactful lead performers, particularly Justice Smith, who digs deep to channel his character's inner turmoil in a decades-spanning journey. His performance not only speaks to individual experience, but broader provocations about the failure of the comforts of conventional suburbia. In the film's stunning conclusion amid the manufactured joy of arcades, multiplexes and birthday parties, his suffocation is writ large with every shiver and guttural scream during a breakdown which solidifies his as one of the essential performances of the year. It makes for a scene, and by extension, a film that I won't be forgetting any time soon.
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