It's a coming of age with dread/horror that grows throughout the film but definitely not "Horror". It also is very much an LGBT film, but the message/horror aspect will resonate with most people, I think. I don't want to say more than that (unless asked outright!).
Me too. I have a trans sibling, trans students, and a non binary child, but as an older mom, I saw some other themes, too. We all process art through ourselves.
For example, (spoilers!)
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the story barely acknowledges his mother's illness and death. When he has his breakdown, he yells "Mommy!" which is what adults do in mortal terror. So I also saw it as the trauma of holding in all his grief and loss which is as big a part of his repressed identity as his gender identity. And that broke my heart. I wanted to climb through the street and be his mom.
You’re really getting angry about me relating to a movie on a deep personal level where I have not stopped thinking about it for nearly 36 hours? And literally never had that experience thinking about a film that long after before? Very universal themes.
As a straight cis man, This movie was easily the most beautiful thing I have watched in a while. I could not relate a single bit to the trans allegory, but i can safely say it was the best LBGTQ+ film I have ever watched.
I’m glad I watched it and I’m going to be just as happy when I watch it again soon.
I loved this movie too! it deeply resonated with me!
I’m just confused why straight guys on Reddit keep feeling the need to tell me “as a cishet person this is the best LGBT movie I’ve ever seen” as if you’ve never cared about a queer story until this one. very funny if true!
I’d imagine when people mention they’re straight or cis or whatever, it’s 1. them trying to contextualize their experience with the film and 2. echoing the sentiment that queer cinema that’s explicitly about queer issues is as powerful and universe as anything else
Of course you might say “that should be obvious” but unfortunately we’re still in a culture that doesn’t treat it as such, so I think comments like this are just way of signaling solidarity.
Care to elaborate? If it's not "horror" then what's tge genre? I remeber thinking the exact same thing for Beau is Afraid, but that one's being billed as horror.
I saw the film last week as well, and think it can perhaps be described as a coming-of-age with psychological horror elements. The horror isn't as straight up and paranoia-inducing as Beau is Afraid because the aesthetic is campier (my partner described it as having "b-movie" effects). There's some >!body horror!<.
It is not an LGBT film. What bullshit. The main character says she likes girls once. And that's it. It has nothing to do with that community. Incredibly disrespectful.
Are you serious? The director has said very explicitly it's about her coming to terms with the fact that they're trans, and the point when you're no longer able to deny it (and that it's never too late). It's extremely obvious throughout the film. What did you think was going on with Justice Smith's character, are you sure you saw I Saw the TV Glow?
Coming to grips with their identity, or rather >!burying and suffocating!< their identity, and the psychological turmoil, trauma, regret, and >!body horror-level dysphoria!< they experience over the years of doing so.
Yes, except the chalk message "there is still time" suffuses it with hope. It's so real to life: the simultaneous horror and hope.
Also, a nice allusion to Pandora's Box.
> *TV Glow* is a film about the egg crack. It's about hiding from this thing inside you for half your life, and then the dual horror and catharsis of finally letting those walls down and seeing it for the first time, and being left with this sort of double-edged sword of two bad options: to put your authentic self you've been hiding from back inside and just pretend like you never saw it and go on half living half a life, or face the unknown, which will almost certainly mean complete social death, essentially the end of reality as you know it. The film's genre elements and central metaphor grew out of a desire to talk about what I, and I think many other trans people have experienced, which is trying to figure out a way to be yourself in a world that has done a really good job of trying to convince you that you're someone else.
- Jane Schoenbrun, writer/director, *I Saw the TV Glow*
absolutely horror in a way worse than most unrealistic horror films could be, this one shows the horrors of an unfulfilled, inauthentic life, which could befall any one of us
I really wanted to love this movie but I just really didn’t. I’m glad it’s finding its crowd though, definitely some crazy cool visuals in the first half. The Twin Peaks style musical intermission halfway through was my favorite moment for sure.
I’m in the same boat. Wanted so bad to love it. And the visuals were great and I found the whole soundscape of it really nice, glad I caught it in theatres for that.and I really really did like it. But something about it missed. I thought I would be sobbing by the end but I wasn’t. Still processing it all, probably will pirate a second watch
I'm so glad you loved it, OP! The trailer is also one of my favorite trailers ever, and I really liked We're Going to the World's Fair so I can't wait for this film.
Saw the movie last week too and keep telling people that I would definitely see it again just for the soundtrack! But beyond that it was such an impeccable film. I felt so deeply understood
I heard it was similar to Are You Afraid of the Dark and actually has the two stars of Adventures of Pete & Pete. So as a 90s Nick kid, I’m definitely excited to see it.
Did it have Pete and Pete in it? The first pink opaque episode shown seemed heavily influenced by the Pete and Pete episode What We Did on Our Summer Vacation.
>!They show up briefly as neighbors. Very blink-and-you-miss-it but really exciting when I realized it was them just as the scene cut! Lots of Mr. Tastee at the beginning.!<
It fucked me up. I haven’t seen a movie that felt like my high school years maybe ever.
I didn’t cry during the movie, but half an hour later, sitting in the park, I burst into tears.
I heard alot of people having this reaction to it. I want to watch it just to find out why. I heard one of the lines was of time passing by and not remembering or realizing it? Something like that. I'm currently not in the greatest mental state so I'm also afraid it might trigger something in me to be quite honest LOL
I know that lot of trans people have been having a big reaction to it because the movie is an allegory for being trans (the director confirmed)- but as a cisgender person who saw it it left me unsatisfied and constantly stuck in my head… and this is a good thing. it was a fever dream to watch and ive spent every waking minute thinking about it since then. regardless of gender identity, you can still be moved by it- i think what one person posted sums it up:
“Making breakfast the morning after watching "I
Saw the TV Glow" feeling completely empty inside and fully convinced there is a more beautiful version of me being buried alive in an alternate universe and everything l perceive is a false reality and Im slowly suffocating and not living my true authentic self and I'm watching my life pass by me and only I can only cure my isolation through escaping to fantasy worlds within the media l consume”
Surprised to see so many people gushing over the trailer, it seemed pretty standard to me? Unless maybe I saw a different trailer than you guys are talking about.
I’m interested, and will probably go see it. I think the “cursed children’s show” creepypasta stuff has been done a lot, so not wholly original, but this one looks like it has the potential to be one of the better attempts at using that concept.
Unless the trailer shows footage not in the film, it seems like it is at the very least one of the plot points, though I’m sure they have an original spin on the idea which is nice.
Im mostly just confused about the trailer praise, which trailer did you guys see, is it the one posted online?
This movie made me hyper aware of my own personal Mandela effect-esque memory of my childhood. And reminded me of the times I’ve had a dream I really liked and then tried to go back to sleep in an effort to have the same dream or have another dream of the same universe but not being able to. And I found it embarrassing how much I liked it which just made me like it more.
Yes! For someone with so little (and almost entirely unpleasant/unflattering) screen time, they really shy away from making him a total villain. He's definitely a partial POS but also just genuinely not equipped to be the kind of father he needed to be.
Not being equipped for the job is probably the more accurate description. I agree. We probably jump to POS a little too quickly sometimes. The dad is a product of his environment.
I went in completely knowing nothing about the movie and missed some major plot points. Still enjoyed it. Makes much more sense after reading more about it. I will watch it again. Even still it was an amazingly well made, great aesthetics and sound, fine acting
What an amazing and creative concept…Wish they would have showed us instead of explained everything. Her entire monologue should have been shown rather than just explained. We didn’t need *that* much set up in the beginning.
Also this is not a horror movie, and I don’t mean just because it wasn’t scary
Love the themes and metaphor though
I actually love this movie these are just my issues with it
i take it to mean as proof that owen is an unbeatable narrator that deliberately misrepresents what her monologue was really about because the real monologues was something so unfathomable that it literally caused a psychotic break
Fuck I can’t lie, the monologue was one of my favorite parts.
I like how we don’t actually see it happen. Since us as the viewer never perceive it, it might as well not exist to us.
It thought it added to the mystery and dread of Owen’s uncertain reality.
This movie was by far the absolute worst piece of trash I've ever seen. No plot, no character development. It had slow and very boring dialogue. Zero explanation of anything and the story didn't go anywhere. Scratch that, there really wasn't a story. Just a bunch of scenes strung together. God did this movie suck.
Skimming your comment history I could have told you this movie was... not for you 😘
If you want to complain tell someone who cares*
[email protected] here's the email of the CEO
(*jk he for sure doesn't give a shit what you think)
💜💜💜💜💜💜
Okay, seeing as to how you're so pretentious... what made you think this piece of shit was actually a good movie? My guess is, you have terrible taste. You probably love Zone of Interest too
I doubt you actually want to discuss what I think since you've done nothing for the past few hours but look up old posts on Reddit to yell into the void about how much this film affected you. I hope you find a better outlet for your emotions, you seem repressed. Good luck!
behind every single bitter and lonely rant to no one about their "superior" tastes in movies, there's a shitty clickbait filled failed YouTube channel where an angry scorned white man rages against "wokeism" and women. i wish you the best in life, my man.
anyone know a good pirate website to watch it on? all the ones ive found are very low quality in both the sound and visuals, and i wanna watch the movie properly yk. and its not in movie theaters near me so i cant see it there either
so disappointed in this movie completely was not what i expected,, it's giving gentrification of queer pain and capitalizing on black skin by someone who completely missed the plot
What genre would you classify it as? It’s being chatted about in horror circles but I don’t get that vibe from it. Personally I’m super hyped for it.
It's a coming of age with dread/horror that grows throughout the film but definitely not "Horror". It also is very much an LGBT film, but the message/horror aspect will resonate with most people, I think. I don't want to say more than that (unless asked outright!).
As a straight cis person, I found the film to have very universal themes as well as queer themes
Me too. I have a trans sibling, trans students, and a non binary child, but as an older mom, I saw some other themes, too. We all process art through ourselves. For example, (spoilers!) . . . . . . . . . the story barely acknowledges his mother's illness and death. When he has his breakdown, he yells "Mommy!" which is what adults do in mortal terror. So I also saw it as the trauma of holding in all his grief and loss which is as big a part of his repressed identity as his gender identity. And that broke my heart. I wanted to climb through the street and be his mom.
*screen not street
ur really coming into this conversation with “as a straight cis person” huh. tell me, what queer movie have you seen with no universal themes?
Why the hostility?
You’re really getting angry about me relating to a movie on a deep personal level where I have not stopped thinking about it for nearly 36 hours? And literally never had that experience thinking about a film that long after before? Very universal themes.
As a straight cis man, This movie was easily the most beautiful thing I have watched in a while. I could not relate a single bit to the trans allegory, but i can safely say it was the best LBGTQ+ film I have ever watched. I’m glad I watched it and I’m going to be just as happy when I watch it again soon.
I loved this movie too! it deeply resonated with me! I’m just confused why straight guys on Reddit keep feeling the need to tell me “as a cishet person this is the best LGBT movie I’ve ever seen” as if you’ve never cared about a queer story until this one. very funny if true!
I’d imagine when people mention they’re straight or cis or whatever, it’s 1. them trying to contextualize their experience with the film and 2. echoing the sentiment that queer cinema that’s explicitly about queer issues is as powerful and universe as anything else Of course you might say “that should be obvious” but unfortunately we’re still in a culture that doesn’t treat it as such, so I think comments like this are just way of signaling solidarity.
Say no more. I just wanna see it ASAP.
Care to elaborate? If it's not "horror" then what's tge genre? I remeber thinking the exact same thing for Beau is Afraid, but that one's being billed as horror.
I'd call it Lynch-lite. It's not as esoteric as his stuff, but it's surreal, dark and dreamlike.
I saw the film last week as well, and think it can perhaps be described as a coming-of-age with psychological horror elements. The horror isn't as straight up and paranoia-inducing as Beau is Afraid because the aesthetic is campier (my partner described it as having "b-movie" effects). There's some >!body horror!<.
It is not an LGBT film. What bullshit. The main character says she likes girls once. And that's it. It has nothing to do with that community. Incredibly disrespectful.
You might want to read what the director has to say about their film
Are you serious? The director has said very explicitly it's about her coming to terms with the fact that they're trans, and the point when you're no longer able to deny it (and that it's never too late). It's extremely obvious throughout the film. What did you think was going on with Justice Smith's character, are you sure you saw I Saw the TV Glow?
Lol, the director is trans and it's VERY obviously about a trans character coming to grips with their identity.
Coming to grips with their identity, or rather >!burying and suffocating!< their identity, and the psychological turmoil, trauma, regret, and >!body horror-level dysphoria!< they experience over the years of doing so.
I feel like the ending is especially terrifying if you’re LGBT
it definitely is
Yes, except the chalk message "there is still time" suffuses it with hope. It's so real to life: the simultaneous horror and hope. Also, a nice allusion to Pandora's Box.
Owen's trans and the film is a metaphor for being so dysphoric that you disassociate from your entire life.
> *TV Glow* is a film about the egg crack. It's about hiding from this thing inside you for half your life, and then the dual horror and catharsis of finally letting those walls down and seeing it for the first time, and being left with this sort of double-edged sword of two bad options: to put your authentic self you've been hiding from back inside and just pretend like you never saw it and go on half living half a life, or face the unknown, which will almost certainly mean complete social death, essentially the end of reality as you know it. The film's genre elements and central metaphor grew out of a desire to talk about what I, and I think many other trans people have experienced, which is trying to figure out a way to be yourself in a world that has done a really good job of trying to convince you that you're someone else. - Jane Schoenbrun, writer/director, *I Saw the TV Glow*
The character who says she likes girls isn’t the main character. I don’t think you even saw the film, cool strong and uninformed opinion though.
The point of the film went right over your head, huh?
you might have the worst media literacy i have ever seen, full stop. did you walk into the wrong theater?
If I was picking from a Hulu type movie category I’d expect it to be in SciFi
absolutely horror in a way worse than most unrealistic horror films could be, this one shows the horrors of an unfulfilled, inauthentic life, which could befall any one of us
I really wanted to love this movie but I just really didn’t. I’m glad it’s finding its crowd though, definitely some crazy cool visuals in the first half. The Twin Peaks style musical intermission halfway through was my favorite moment for sure.
Yeah, that scene felt like Julee Cruise was being channeled for a modern audience.
I’m in the same boat. Wanted so bad to love it. And the visuals were great and I found the whole soundscape of it really nice, glad I caught it in theatres for that.and I really really did like it. But something about it missed. I thought I would be sobbing by the end but I wasn’t. Still processing it all, probably will pirate a second watch
I really can’t wait to see this! Hoping my theatre picks it up!
I'm so glad you loved it, OP! The trailer is also one of my favorite trailers ever, and I really liked We're Going to the World's Fair so I can't wait for this film.
how was the score, alex g is my fav artist and i’ve been excited bout this soundtrack for a while now
The score tied everything together so well, I felt like I was vibrating after I left the theatre.
Saw the movie last week too and keep telling people that I would definitely see it again just for the soundtrack! But beyond that it was such an impeccable film. I felt so deeply understood
I'm going to see it again next week, I totally feel you
The score is fantastic!!
It was SO GOOD. The music really set the whole atmosphere.
I heard it was similar to Are You Afraid of the Dark and actually has the two stars of Adventures of Pete & Pete. So as a 90s Nick kid, I’m definitely excited to see it.
Yes, and a large dose of Buffy.
Did it have Pete and Pete in it? The first pink opaque episode shown seemed heavily influenced by the Pete and Pete episode What We Did on Our Summer Vacation.
Someone said they made a cameo but I haven’t seen it.
>!They show up briefly as neighbors. Very blink-and-you-miss-it but really exciting when I realized it was them just as the scene cut! Lots of Mr. Tastee at the beginning.!<
Can’t wait for this, one of my most anticipated films of the year
What is Fred Durst like in it?
😂 he's a POS
So he plays himself, got it.
No he plays himself in Y2K. In the movie he plays the justice Smiths bigoted dad.
They got me with that creepy ass Broken Social Scene cover wowwwweeee
I saw the film before the trailer came out. I actually recommend people not watch the trailer because the vibe is totally different.
It fucked me up. I haven’t seen a movie that felt like my high school years maybe ever. I didn’t cry during the movie, but half an hour later, sitting in the park, I burst into tears.
I heard alot of people having this reaction to it. I want to watch it just to find out why. I heard one of the lines was of time passing by and not remembering or realizing it? Something like that. I'm currently not in the greatest mental state so I'm also afraid it might trigger something in me to be quite honest LOL
I know that lot of trans people have been having a big reaction to it because the movie is an allegory for being trans (the director confirmed)- but as a cisgender person who saw it it left me unsatisfied and constantly stuck in my head… and this is a good thing. it was a fever dream to watch and ive spent every waking minute thinking about it since then. regardless of gender identity, you can still be moved by it- i think what one person posted sums it up: “Making breakfast the morning after watching "I Saw the TV Glow" feeling completely empty inside and fully convinced there is a more beautiful version of me being buried alive in an alternate universe and everything l perceive is a false reality and Im slowly suffocating and not living my true authentic self and I'm watching my life pass by me and only I can only cure my isolation through escaping to fantasy worlds within the media l consume”
I thought the trailer gave away a lot hopefully I’m wrong cause it does look interesting.
I felt that way too, but the narrative structure I thought it was going to have based on the trailer was very flipped, in a good way!
I saw the trailer before civil war and loved it. Can’t wait to see it
Ouuu I can’t wait! The trailer was cool.
Surprised to see so many people gushing over the trailer, it seemed pretty standard to me? Unless maybe I saw a different trailer than you guys are talking about. I’m interested, and will probably go see it. I think the “cursed children’s show” creepypasta stuff has been done a lot, so not wholly original, but this one looks like it has the potential to be one of the better attempts at using that concept.
Spoilers: It's not about a cursed children's show~
Unless the trailer shows footage not in the film, it seems like it is at the very least one of the plot points, though I’m sure they have an original spin on the idea which is nice. Im mostly just confused about the trailer praise, which trailer did you guys see, is it the one posted online?
It’s not
Interesting! I’m going to see it Saturday so I guess I’ll find out soon enough wth it’s actually about lol
Did you end up seeing it? What did you think?
it is
Just saw it tonight. There was also a q&a with the lead actor, Bridgette Lundy-Paine. They were really cool.
This movie made me hyper aware of my own personal Mandela effect-esque memory of my childhood. And reminded me of the times I’ve had a dream I really liked and then tried to go back to sleep in an effort to have the same dream or have another dream of the same universe but not being able to. And I found it embarrassing how much I liked it which just made me like it more.
I loathed World’s Fair but keeping an open mind with this one
God I wanted to like World's Fair so bad but it mainly just pissed me off. Really hoping for more substance out of this.
I agree with both of you. World's fair was a waste of my time. I'm hoping the hype generated to Glow will translate into a good film.
Same here! Didn’t like World’s Fair, so I’m trying to temper expectations. Excited to check it out once it’s playing here.
Fwiw, I was meh about World's Fair (felt like it referred a lot to stuff I was too old for), but totally loved this movie.
Can’t wait.
Can someone take a swing a interpreting the Fred Durst pulling the kids head out of the tube TV and helping him vomit scene?
I took it as a metaphor for >!both the father character keeping Owen from being their authentic self but also saving them from a suicide attempt!<
Thank you. He’s referenced as a total POS elsewhere and I took this scene to be at least somewhat helpful. So, partial POS.
Yes! For someone with so little (and almost entirely unpleasant/unflattering) screen time, they really shy away from making him a total villain. He's definitely a partial POS but also just genuinely not equipped to be the kind of father he needed to be.
Not being equipped for the job is probably the more accurate description. I agree. We probably jump to POS a little too quickly sometimes. The dad is a product of his environment.
I went in completely knowing nothing about the movie and missed some major plot points. Still enjoyed it. Makes much more sense after reading more about it. I will watch it again. Even still it was an amazingly well made, great aesthetics and sound, fine acting
What an amazing and creative concept…Wish they would have showed us instead of explained everything. Her entire monologue should have been shown rather than just explained. We didn’t need *that* much set up in the beginning. Also this is not a horror movie, and I don’t mean just because it wasn’t scary Love the themes and metaphor though I actually love this movie these are just my issues with it
The monologue scene really dragged for me too, was really hoping for visuals there
i take it to mean as proof that owen is an unbeatable narrator that deliberately misrepresents what her monologue was really about because the real monologues was something so unfathomable that it literally caused a psychotic break
Fuck I can’t lie, the monologue was one of my favorite parts. I like how we don’t actually see it happen. Since us as the viewer never perceive it, it might as well not exist to us. It thought it added to the mystery and dread of Owen’s uncertain reality.
[удалено]
No that HAD to be comedic
Agh I wanna see it so bad
Definitely one to remember it for sure made me feel something and was a huge love letter to the Buffy the vampire slayer
What the fuck? The movie sucked. Like bad. Stop trying to elevate bad shit
okay, bb, whatever you say 💜💜
This movie was by far the absolute worst piece of trash I've ever seen. No plot, no character development. It had slow and very boring dialogue. Zero explanation of anything and the story didn't go anywhere. Scratch that, there really wasn't a story. Just a bunch of scenes strung together. God did this movie suck.
Skimming your comment history I could have told you this movie was... not for you 😘 If you want to complain tell someone who cares* [email protected] here's the email of the CEO (*jk he for sure doesn't give a shit what you think) 💜💜💜💜💜💜
Okay, seeing as to how you're so pretentious... what made you think this piece of shit was actually a good movie? My guess is, you have terrible taste. You probably love Zone of Interest too
I doubt you actually want to discuss what I think since you've done nothing for the past few hours but look up old posts on Reddit to yell into the void about how much this film affected you. I hope you find a better outlet for your emotions, you seem repressed. Good luck!
behind every single bitter and lonely rant to no one about their "superior" tastes in movies, there's a shitty clickbait filled failed YouTube channel where an angry scorned white man rages against "wokeism" and women. i wish you the best in life, my man.
Is this getting a wide release? I still have yet to see showtimes near me and I live in a major metropolitan area.
It's getting a limited release starting on May 3rd, and a wide a few weeks later (I want to say the 17th?)
Ya that’s what I thought and I was checking those dates too. Will have to wait and see as it gets closer to the wider release.
I'm in NYC and showtimes only just started popping up a few days ago, so I think if you're in a city you'll see some soon! 🤘
I was kind of bored for most of the movie. The monotone dialogue put me to sleep, but the last 15 min was pretty solid
anyone know a good pirate website to watch it on? all the ones ive found are very low quality in both the sound and visuals, and i wanna watch the movie properly yk. and its not in movie theaters near me so i cant see it there either
Am I the only person who didn't like it? (Pls don't downvote me)
so disappointed in this movie completely was not what i expected,, it's giving gentrification of queer pain and capitalizing on black skin by someone who completely missed the plot
The fact that the New York Times and Roger Ebert gave this film four stars is the reason people vote for Donald Trump.