I Saw the TV Glow

"I had to sit with this one for a while..and I still don’t really know how to rate it. I mean anywhere from 1⭐️ to 5⭐️ depending on what it evoked in me. It’s profoundly bleak, the tone too depressive to say I enjoyed it. This film is labeled as horror but there are no heart racing jump scares or any graphic violence. The horror comes from the quiet despair of living a life forced upon you, a life that is the antithesis of you. An underpinning of sci fi and magical realism elevate the psychological themes mostly to a light macabre, the fantastical elements serving to eerily punctuate the embodied trauma and bleak desperation. I won’t say any more about that other than this film makes you think and work hard for it. Visually too it is seductively creative. I was lightly spellbound by the dark tone splashed with bright graphics and effects. The entire movie is infused with an ambient glow rendering it both radiant and gloomy simultaneously, almost like a chiaroscuro effect in renaissance paintings, only in neon. Plus those long, slow panned walking shots in front of storefronts and carnival games were simply mesmerizing. So yes it’s really kind of beautiful. However, it is also incredibly somber and desolate. There’s an intentional numbing out in the characters, which is exactly what it’s supposed to be in conveying emotional repression as a coping mechanism. But man is it desperately sad. Its themes and message are timely and important. It is niche in a certain tragic way. This film is for all outsiders though, and many of us, for all kinds of reasons, can very much relate. I just don’t know how a movie can be so meaningful, thought provoking, exquisite and excruciating. It’s like a tortuous work of art. "

"Small budget indie produced by Emma Stone and her husband’s production company. A coming of age story about two abused, introverted outcasts. We’ve kinda seen variations of this one before, but not in this way. The writing, the directing, the acting, all award worthy. It gets very strange, a little scary, makes you interpret it yourself and very sad. Put it on the year end lists. "

"If you know anything about what the intent was with this movie it’s a beautiful and artful meditation on the toll of what not being one’s authentic self can do to the psych. Watching it I can see how someone could get a little lost while watching this movie but I think most of what is happening is a metaphor and symbolic which can come off as pretentious but I think this has a crystal clear message if you know what your looking for and to me was done really well with a lot of thought put behind what it wanted to say. "

"Most disappointing movie experience of the year goes to…. I soooooo wanted to love this movie cuz I’ve been looking forward it all year! But unfortunately, it doesn’t have much to offer outside of cool aesthetics. And it’s not even scary either! The whole thing felt disjointed and I kept getting lost. The movie ended abruptly and left me feeling like “HUUUH?”"

"This isn’t gonna make sense to a lot of people but I loved it ! The visuals are beautiful in a bit of a frightening way and the acting is pretty solid too . It’s hard to describe but it def made me feel some type of way . Side note: I love justice smith "

"3/5⭐️ Day 24 of #Spooktober I watched I Saw the Tv Glow. To my surprised I actually enjoyed this nostalgic weird psychological horror film. Now am I the target audience for this umm not really but being a millennial definitely bias my liking. Now rather iam or not I still can see the creativity that went into making this. I automatically knew exactly around the year this movie took place when I saw that fruitopia machine in the school #IYKYK. That really took me back to a time and place before the internet as we know it today. will say there was a lot going on so I couldn’t fully grasp the entire scope of the movie but I got the basis. I use to think I didn’t like artsy horror but I’m discovering that might be far from the truth. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is one of my favorite films and that’s definitely artsy fartsy but it’s done perfectly.I Saw the TV Glow accesses a vein of nostalgia for those who came of age to 1990s camp, cult horror TV which many millennials did. I went to school with some kids just like our two main characters back in the 90’s. They weren’t apart of my friend group but it’s something very vivid in my memory. What’s also very nostalgic is Maddy recording episodes on the VHS for her friend to watch. It instantly reminded me when my friend recorded Dragon Ball Z episodes for me to watch or WWF PPV’s we use to share with each other. The film its self came seem very weird if you don’t actually know what you’re watching. One point I did like that I think they were trying to make is things you watched as a child isn’t a good when you get older it’s not the same. The way the film is shot in 35 mm with all the vibrant colors makes it feel like a 90’s tv show time capsule it’s so different. This is one of those films I really would like to watch again at some point. It won’t be for everybody but it’s worth the watch for its originality."

"Gen X had goth kids. Millenials had emo kids. Gen Z has whatever this is. I do not understand this generation. I can't even say what I like or don't like about this movie, because I just don't get any part of it. "

"I thought this movie was just beyond AWFUL. I honestly don't understand the higher ratings..."

"This is a 3.5 star film to me. But this app still hasn’t enabled 1/2 star ratings. So, I’m rounding down… cos I just don’t feel it’s a 4 star film."

"This movie was extremely well made with an incredible aesthetic and effective in conveying its complex story. Knowing more about its story is critical in appreciating it, so please read up on it before passing on it/throwing shade. It is an intense story that evokes quite a lot of existential crisis. I would highly recommend it bc I think it cuts to the core of our fear and reminds you not to give in to the apathy."