Sydney Film Festival Review - I Saw The TV Glow

 

“Do you remember a TV show we used to watch together? It was called the Pink Opaque.”

Surreal, isolated and opaque, I Saw The TV Glow is a deeply allegorical and experimental exploration of identity in a psychological analogue horror-drama that disquiets and unsettles with its awkwardness and Lynchian distance to craft an astral experience that’s part dream, part nightmare that leaves a haunted shadow.

Discussion Points:

Jane Schoenbruen obviously has a lot of ideas she wants to explore from the impact of media fandom and obsession on mental health, to the coming-of-age identity crisis that many face and find an escape from in their favourite TV shows, to the deeper felt questions around identity and societal expectations and how masqued we can become to the point of being unrecognisable, even to ourselves. Obviously a film that will speak very deeply to people who feel lost, lonely or in need of escape or rebirth. Schoenbruen uses some incredible imagery to tell her story, channeling 90s TV like Twin Peaks and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, whilst also tapping into the current contemporary success of analogue horror series on YouTube. Grainy images, vivid neons, cursive fonts, steady zooms - all combine to disquiet and almost cause a transcendental out-of-body experience. Justice Smith is almost unrecognisable, with few spoken words, but such deeply embodied anxiety and isolation. Brigette Lundy-Paine is magnetic yet dangerous, entrancing and unable to look away from. Add a soundtrack filled with completely original songs that feel ripped right from the 90s teen-angst fuelled days of MTV, and I See The TV Glow delivers a wholly unique, yet deeply personal and cleverly crafted vision that’s haunting yet healing.