I Saw the TV Glow

Owen is an awkward teen stuck in the suburbs when his new friend Maddy introduces him to The Pink Opaque , a creepy late-night TV series about two psychic teens who use their powers to fight the villainous Mr Melancholy.

For Maddy, the show is more than an escape. It feels truer than real life. One night, in tears, she tells Owen she wants to run away.

One day, Maddy vanishes without a trace. The years slip by: The Pink Opaque is cancelled; Owen finishes high school and loses his mother to cancer. But when Maddy returns, claiming she’s spent the last two years living inside the show, Owen’s fragile grip on reality begins to slip

Curator’s Note
When Maddy asks Owen if he likes girls or boys, he hesitates before landing on, “I think I like TV shows”. In Jane Schoenbrun’s singular vision, this fictional TV show (itself an affectionate nod to Buffy the Vampire Slayer ) becomes a euphoric and frightening portal for self-discovery.

Justice Smith is extraordinary as Owen, caught between the dread and hopefulness of self-recognition. Terrified of what he might find but unable to look away, Owen is the aching centre of I Saw the TV Glow , a brilliant trans meditation on the shows that see us before we can see ourselves.

Visceral and intensely moving, this film feels like something you’d stumble across on TV in the small hours and never forget. It might herald a new era for queer cinema.

Laura Venning, Empire Magazine