उपयोगकर्ता समीक्षाएं

I am a straight white man, and I liked this movie. I watched it this evening. After letting it sink in and after dwelling on it, I came here. I skimmed the user reviews. First of all, if you didn't finish watching the movie, then you shouldn't review it.

A lot of people who didn't like it criticized the acting. To me the acting felt like awkward teenagers being awkward teenagers.

A lot of the people who did like it saw it as a queer/trans allegory. Rock on, good for them.

I saw it as a reminder of the awkwardness of being a teenager, trying to make new friends. The obsession with a TV show reminded me how sometimes a TV show can become your identity and can sometimes help you survive said teenage awkwardness. (For me it was The X-Files.) Go in with an open mind and let its atmosphere draw you in.

Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun made a highly atmospheric little film a couple of years ago called ' We're All Going To The Worlds Fair' on a shoestring budget but the film left an inedible impression on me that I included it on my ten best of the year.

The follow up continues the same microscopic view of adolescence, loneliness and social exclusion that still retains the same wonderful wintry neon feel as the previous film. See also the classic 'It Follows' and ' Rivers Edge'-these all perfectly capture the inner feelings of the characters; bored teenagers in middle small town America caught in a mystery.

It is talky and slow and I get if some will be put off. I didn't take to the characters breaking the 'fourth wall' and start speaking directly to the camera; it felt like the audience had to be spoon fed exactly what the character is feeling.

The acting is excellent from Justice Smith and Brigette Lunday-Paine and young Ian Foreman as the young Owen. Bringing a vulnerable, isolated look on the faces. Is there a hint of abuse here?

I felt like I did in the 90s with 'Twin Peaks' where I wanted to dive straight into the TV set and be in the dark and magical small US town (there are lots of 'Lynchian' references here, not just the photography and sound but the musical interlude in the small bar) Like the similar 'Beau is Afraid' (ageing) this is a smart, extremely well done expressionist horror that I may not want to see again in a hurry but will stay in my mind for a long time.

No judgment. Definitely not a traditional "horror" film, but scary none the less. I was a freshman girl in 1996. This is what it felt like.... Fighting to get to the next season of our lives. Fighting to be understood and to understand ourselves. We were in such a hurry to grow up we didn't fully appreciate our youth. Some of us didn't make it. I did and I wonder which outcome is better. We die quickly or we die slowly. This film made me feel very seen and also scared for the next generations. Some things are better and some are way worse. If we do it or not our teenage selves die... it's all about if we become something better. The question is "What is better?"

It features many dynamite indie rockers (both in cameos and musically), it started off great with interesting characters and EXCELLENT aesthetics - as a millennial, I felt a lot of nostalgia for similar shows I used to watch growing up. Ultimately though, the story fell apart and offered little substance.

The film has an interesting and societally relevant theme, but I think that's where this falls flat - a great film may elicit the response:

"That was a great story - what were its most prominent themes?"

But instead I found myself asking:

"That was an interesting theme - what were its most prominent plot lines?"

I can understand if this movie is divisive because it doesn't meet the audience halfway. You have to stick with it and figure it out.

The ostensible story is, two alienated teenagers who find a tenuous connection to each other via a cultish series called The Pink Opaque, which is a bit like Buffy the Vampire Slayer made by David Lynch.

By the end, the theme emerges: how people suffocate their own lives by ignoring or cutting out their own hearts.

The story could have been told just by depicting Owen's sad, stunted life. The fantastical elements are there to make the theme more obvious, not to mention far more entertaining.

This isn't a horror movie, unless you see the horror of a sad, wasted life. The segment where Owen re-watches The Pink Opaque on "streaming" is particularly chilling in its implications.

A deeply sad, heartfelt, surrealist film that is very likely to be the most unique American film released in 2024, and even more likely to be misunderstood by at least 75% of its viewers. On the surface, it's one of the most locked-in mid-90's nostalgia pieces I've ingested, but beneath that it's one of the most complex coming-of-age films I can think of.

To me, the movie was an expression of the kids who grew up in dysfunctional families in the 90's (the TV generation), those who were drawn to dark media due to that (which was extremely prevalent in the late 80's up through the mid 90's), and in turn, those who ended up with a far deeper connection with those dark fantasy worlds than they had with most other humans, and reality as a whole. When it's time to grow up, things get rough...I can relate, because I was 100% one of those kids during that exact era, so this one hit a lot of buttons that made a lot of sense for me.

There are some impressively unique horror/monster effects in this film, that are equal parts comical and terrifying, simultaneously, which feels like yet another element that is heavily loyal to the era it is inspired by. This, along with many other elements, allow this movie to differentiate itself pretty boldly from everything else coming out right now. Common horror fans will likely just be confused by this film, which tends to be the case with most psychological horror films that actually offer anything with emotional purpose, but it offers plenty of cerebral scares and lots of melancholic gloom.

Leads Brigette Lundy-Paine and Justice Smith do an immense job of keeping things deathly serious and dreamlike, Smith almost feeling like he fittingly "can't handle being human" a lot of the time. There are several sequences where their performances bring the movie to a full Lynchian realm - of course this is also due to visionary director Jane Schoenbrun's skilled directing. Speaking of that, I just realized that the segment that feels most like a nod to Lynch in a multitude of ways is the one that features bands performing live at a strange club, much like the Road House in the last season of Twin Peaks. Kris Esfandiari of King Woman makes an especially strong appearance here. It certainly doesn't hurt that they put together a very tasteful soundtrack that feels very reminiscent of the classic movie soundtracks of the 90's. It's fitting that the movie and soundtrack begin with a Broken Social Scene cover, because the whole album kind of feels like a full Broken Social Scene album, with similar dynamics and vibes throughout.

While it's truly hard to compare this to anything, it feels HIGHLY inspired by ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?, the Canadian kids horror program broadcast in the 90's on Nickelodeon, more than anything, while it's themes remind me only of a couple other movies, Pixar's INSIDE OUT, and the very wild SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK. While I cried my eyes out at that Pixar movie, this one is too committed to its surrealism and gloom to induce actual tears, but the overall melancholy remains very heavy and very real throughout.

This is a movie about the weirdos who found solace in media for weirdos. Brilliantly, the movie itself is weird (and sincere) enough to be that exact sort of weird type of media that the new young weirdos may find the same kind of solace in when they watch this as a teenager in reality now. I think that might be the whole point. If it wasn't, then it's awfully masterful accident. That's 2 strikingly unique and effective psychological horror films by Jane Schoenbrun now, 2 for 2...I officially deem thee a visionary force to be reckoned with.

I cannot stress this enough, this is one of the worst films I've ever seen. I kept waiting for something to happen. My girlfriend and I kept waiting for something to happen. That thing that hooks you in to show you that indeed there is a story happening and you're not wasting your time.

That moment never came. I love weird. I love art house. But this was just art house indulgence. I respect that there is probably more going on with this film's message that I'm not seeing and I elect to do more research. But I won't waste my time and sit through it again. If the message is THAT buried and it's "left up to interpretation" then I think the mission of the film is lost imo. Im not a filmmaker so I can't judge too hard. But as a songwriter if my song isn't clear the audience won't always connect to it. I think it's going to be very hard for audiences to connect with this film on a deeper level due to its lack of clarity to its point. Beau is Afraid was more clear than this...

The trailer for this movie got me somewhat interested, and then reading these reviews which I think were written by the studio along with everyone that worked on this film made me thing that this was a watchable movie. About 45 minutes into the movie, I was in awe that nothing interesting had happened. About an hour and ten minutes in, I was flabbergasted that I had somehow missed the conflict of the film. What is the plot? Where is this going? Is this a very very long TV pilot.

Then I shut off the movie. I don't know what happens, but I don't think that it does. Happen. Nothing. I felt good about saving those minutes of my life to do something else.

Like most people that gave this honest reviews, the flashback sequences were very hard to understand/hear. The actor choice of the main character was confusing when he jumps 2 years and looks like a completely different person, but then 8 years later looks exactly the same. I thought I missed a story about his younger brother or something. Don't waste your time on this.

I've been meaning to watch this movie for a while, but I had been putting it off because I didn't want to have to pay to watch it. I bit the bullet tonight, turned it on my computer. I don't know if words can describe how this movie made me feel. At the end, I was just left with this pit in my chest that felt physically painful. I'm still crying writing this, and I can't explain why.

The cinematography is otherworldly, the colors are beautiful and the song choices fit the tone appropriately. It was nothing like I thought it was going to be.

And it was everything I needed to hear.

This movie isn't made for people who know who they are. It's not made for people who have everything figured out, people who like a good story or an action filled movie. This is made for the people who need it. I'm one of those people.

I can't describe it. You can't put into words something that changes your life. Please just watch it, the worst you lose is two hours of your time.

What you can gain, though, is greater than you'd ever expect from 100 minutes.

There is still time.

I think this film, particularly its story and message is aimed to specific people and issues. It really feels as a cathartic film about discovering and accepting oneself, specially sexually.

It didn't touch me close in that matter, but I appreciate and respect what it tries to do.

I found the creepy atmosphere and style interesting, and the slow pace helped to the feeling of loneliness and anguish, building up to the main character's feel.

The performances were good, I didn't particularly like the characters, it's probably not the kind of personalities that interest me for a story focus, but they serve well in this case.

As a side note, I was shocked to read afterwards that Owen's father was Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst! Unrecognizable!

Overall, it's not a bad movie, the slow burn, creepy atmosphere and story could serve as a horror film for some, but I don't see it that way, for me it's a sort of psychologic, experimental, art house drama with a creepy style, but I wouldn't call it horror.

I found the story to be very sad, actually.

What did I just watch? This might rank as the worst film I've ever seen and only the 2nd time in my 48 yr old life I've walked out of a movie. I can tell you the trailers are BS. I was expecting something kitschy in the vein of Poltergeist maybe but this certainly wasn't a horror or a thriller for that matter. I don't know what the hell it was. If its aim was to be weird, I love weird but it wasn't that either. It was the most pretentious, boring, nonsensical piece of garbage I've seen in years! There is no plot, no real character development, no tension, horrible audio(could barely tell what they were saying at times),the characters aren't likable whatsoever, the music was awful, the idea that he aged two years into a completely different person who looked nothing like him was ridiculous. We sat through as much as we could and finally left 10 minutes before it was over. That's how bad it was. It felt like an angsty 12 year old made it. It was worse that bad because it was so damn BORING. Total waste of an afternoon.

Christ, I don't think words can describe the experience this gave me. This movie was made for transgender teens and the two ends of the spectrum that spring from it: Recognizing you're trans and accepting it by transitioning, and not knowing/accepting you're trans and not transitioning.

I truly cried heavy tears while watching this and recognizing myself in the characters and what they were saying. The colors were used spectacularly being a symbol of femininity, masculinity, and androgyny. I understood every little symbol and experience that they were representing. I feel that people who don't understand the movie are people who have not been friends with a trans person/are cis and only looked at the bare surface of what was being shown. I understand being confused, I was when I watched it for the first time, but if you don't understand something, that doesn't mean it's bad. If you didn't understand this movie, research about it! Even if you think it's bad, it affected a lot of people who are/were trans/queer emotionally and left me, and others I know, thinking about it for days. To finally feel seen and understood in a piece of art this beautiful is so emotionally powerful. 10/10.

A sullen teenager discovers an entrancing television show that speaks to him in ways he's never envisioned when he meets and develops an eccentric friendship with an older girl in his school. While this film turns out to be something a bit more than an archetypal coming-of-age fare, it's quite comfortable staying in that genre most of the time. It never really scratches the surface of horror, despite suggesting the vibe at times. You might not know what to make of this when all it's said and done and I readily confess that I still do not. In the end you either run with the film's committed strangeness or you don't. If you're expecting a straightforward conclusion, this most likely is not for you.

Philosophically, this film is right up my alley, notwithstanding my reservations about the protagonist, who at times seems pitiable. The theme of holding onto adolescent fixations through the years even as they become antiquated and caricature-like is something that strikes near and dear to me. How well it's conveyed here is a matter of debate. The film's whimsical vibe sometimes queers the pitch of this rich concept that's at work. But in the end, it's a good quirky indie that never tries to be something it's not. For those who understand this notion, this film is happily recommended.

"I Saw the TV Glow" refuses to hand anything over in a simple or didactic way, yet somehow manages to carve out really specific feelings in those who connect with its world-not through direct identification with the plot, but through an intimate resonance with a sensory, emotional, and symbolic experience that only cinema and television can truly express. Jane Schoenbrun builds something here that can't be called a traditional narrative, but also isn't just a purely aesthetic experiment. It's a collage of fragmented memories, symbols of a boiling inner world, and impressions of a self that, suffocated by the everyday, finds a kind of misshapen, mystical escape through television. At its core, it's a dark, warped coming-of-age story-one where the characters never quite grow up. Or maybe they do grow, but never emerge from the thick fog of an unspoken identity.

The movie kicks off with a surprisingly grounded premise for something so ethereal: Owen (played by Ian Foreman/Justice Smith), a shy kid from the '90s, meets Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), an outsider teen who introduces him to "The Pink Opaque," a fictional TV show that feels like a mix of "Goosebumps" and "Donnie Darko"-but with VHS vibes, robotic acting, and villains that seem like they were ripped from a nightmare taped over too many times. What first seems like a nostalgic tribute to an analog era of formative media ends up being a twisted mirror reflecting way deeper stuff-like the kind of emotional bond you build with fiction when you're isolated, displaced, or completely adrift in your own identity. There's something deeply melancholic about the almost religious attachment Owen develops to this cheap TV show. It's not about what the show is, but what it represents: a parallel world where maybe he could exist as he really is-or as he never will be.

Casting Justice Smith as the older version of Owen-with no attempt to smooth over the age gap, even though he clearly looks like a grown man playing a late teen-only reinforces the disconnect between physical time and emotional time. It's a bold choice that leans into its artificiality instead of hiding it, because that dissonance is the point: the feeling of watching your own life from a distance, stuck in an aesthetic that refuses to grow up, as if time froze emotionally the moment something couldn't be said, done, or lived. The film's visuals dive headfirst into this non-place aesthetic: neon lights, heavy shadows, overlapping images, and a dissonant soundtrack create a world where reality and fiction blur together-both for Owen, and for us.

Narratively, the movie teases the structure of a psychological horror but then completely abandons any attempt to guide the viewer through a clear line. There are abrupt cuts, time gaps, vanishing characters, absurd details (like Owen's job at a rec center where his only task is to restock plastic balls in a ball pit like it's life-or-death), and a dreamlike logic that feels more like a trance than a conventional story. But logic isn't the point-feeling is. And what "I Saw the TV Glow" makes you feel is a kind of unnamed grief, a constant emptiness, a life lived by proxy. Owen doesn't know how to say what he feels, but maybe "The Pink Opaque" says it for him. When he answers Maddy's question about his sexuality with "I think I like TV shows," it hits like a quiet confession-that he can only access truth through the filter of fiction. In this world, TV isn't escapism-it's survival.

The queer/trans symbolism is clear but never spelled out. That's part of the film's power: it doesn't label what's in crisis-body, gender, identity, voice. There's a constant discomfort that shows up in both the silences and the awkward dialogue, in alienating framing, in faces that never quite relax. The climax-or maybe anti-climax-where lights rise up from the floor and Owen breaks down visually and emotionally, could've easily come off as too much or overly derivative, but instead it carries a symbolic weight that's hard to shake off: it's the body breaking under the strain of a silenced identity, the mind imploding as it tries to reconcile the real with the ideal, the TV turned all the way up with no one left to hear it.

Yeah, the film sometimes slips into a bit of style-over-substance-like the live musical performances that feel more like nostalgic fetish than something rooted in the themes, or some references that seem pasted on more for aesthetic than narrative need-but Schoenbrun makes up for it with rare emotional honesty and a cohesive, immersive atmosphere. "I Saw the TV Glow" isn't an easy watch, and it's not always conventionally engaging, but its refusal to explain itself is exactly what makes it feel so raw and haunting. It doesn't want to be a manifesto, or a neat little allegory. It wants to be a blurry, grainy, warped reflection of a teenagerhood that never ended, of an identity that never had space, of a trauma only fiction dared to name.

It's hard to say whether "I Saw the TV Glow" liked you-or if you liked it. What's more likely is that it just watched you, quietly, like a TV left on late at night, glowing faintly, playing indecipherable sounds while you tried to fall asleep. And then suddenly, something in it understood you-or reminded you of something you've always known, but never had the courage to watch.

After watching this piece of incoherent, unfocused rubbish, I would have much rather watched the TV glow instead. Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun's incomprehensible smart horror offering is an absolute utter waste of time, not to mention the ticket price. This story of two psychologically and emotionally troubled teens, Owen (Ian Forema) and Maddy (Brigitte Lundy-Paine), who bond over a cheesy late night 1990s young adult sci-fi/horror television series called The Pink Opaque struggles mightily to find its way. As Owen grows into an adult (Justice Smith), his cohort vanishes mysteriously when the TV series is abruptly cancelled, leaving him wondering what happened to her until she just as mysteriously reappears years later with a disjointed story that makes no sense from top to bottom. As the film's narrator, Owen tries earnestly to explain, but his recounting of this experience is equally baffling, especially when he tells why Maddy has come back after her protracted absence. The result is an unintelligible tale that's far from frightening (even metaphorically speaking) and ends up being a convoluted mix of 1990s teen angst, extended and inexplicably incorporated music videos, an exploration of sexual ambiguity, and a woefully wayward attempt at symbolically addressing issues related to personal disassociation and self-actualization. There are also numerous story elements and images that are included in the narrative that go undeveloped and unexplored. To its credit, the picture features a fine production design, intriguing cinematography, a good measure of campy comic relief (though not nearly enough of it) and a skillfully assembled soundtrack (handily this release's best attribute). However, when a film's musical guests receive greater billing than its cast members and the soundtrack ends up being its strongest asset, that doesn't speak well about the production's overall quality. To be honest, I get genuinely annoyed (and feel egregiously ripped off) when I leave the theater having screened a picture whose trailer and marketing seem to offer so much promise and end up failing miserably when it comes to delivering the goods, and that's very much the case with this pretentious, sophomoric cinematic train wreck. Don't waste your time or money on this one.

Oh and if you couldnt handle this, just you wait! Theres gonna be even more artsy movies that tackle themes of sexuality, gender identity, and the queer experience coming out everyday, don't you worry.

This is unlike anything i've ever seen. Im kinda glad this wasn't a typical horror movie, i liked my expectations being completely subverted, and going in blind was the best decision i could have made. Maybe you're not suppose to get what its tryna say right away and that's ok.

The experience being expressed in this film i'd assume is incredibly foreign to people who've never watch queer media, read queer stories, or have even had conversarions with actual queer people. So if you couldn't even slightly enjoy this movie, oh well, i guess it's just not for you. But i can see alot of people really enjoying and loving this movie.

Despite people complaining that the way they speak is so monotone and unrealistic, the words Owen and Maddy say sound just so real, like i've heard from their perspective before.

Wish i could rewatch this again for the first time with all my friends and i hope i coincidentally bump into someone currently obsessing over this movie.

I can appreciate vision and bold thematic leaps only so far. For the first hour of this film I sat desperately waiting for any sort of plot build, or even a glimpse into the horror genre, but quickly realized I was never going to get there. The movie felt like a 2 hour experimental one man show - a constant monologue that was in no way interesting or entertaining. I love A24 and their portfolio of horror, but this was beyond disappointing. To say this was a horror movie is a reach to say the least. Not one scene was remotely scary. The overwhelming feeling was boredom. If anyone tells you they'd see this more than once, they're lying.