ironymaiden (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ironymaiden) wrote2024-05-10 11:28 pm
ironymaiden) wrote2024-05-10 11:28 pm
I Saw the TV Glow
Packed house with the director present. The hook is two friends who bond over a TV show and then the lines between the show and reality blur.
So ...this is a movie about a) loving Buffy the Vampire Slayer (lampshaded with the credits font, the club, and an Amber Benson cameo) and b) being an egg. Great: the whole thing is kind of a riff on Normal Again, the lead actor is excellent. Ultimately I'm not the audience for this film; I wanted more exploration of the creepy premise that maybe the TV show is real and RL is actually being trapped in "the midnight realm", but the movie isn't about that, it's about the pain and confusion and self-doubt of someone who is wrestling with their gender identity. It does that well; and I think if that's what you're there for it should be quite moving but I was sold a psychological horror film.
Edited to add: reviewer take https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/jane-schoenbrun/i-saw-the-tv-glow-review
So ...this is a movie about a) loving Buffy the Vampire Slayer (lampshaded with the credits font, the club, and an Amber Benson cameo) and b) being an egg. Great: the whole thing is kind of a riff on Normal Again, the lead actor is excellent. Ultimately I'm not the audience for this film; I wanted more exploration of the creepy premise that maybe the TV show is real and RL is actually being trapped in "the midnight realm", but the movie isn't about that, it's about the pain and confusion and self-doubt of someone who is wrestling with their gender identity. It does that well; and I think if that's what you're there for it should be quite moving but I was sold a psychological horror film.
Edited to add: reviewer take https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/jane-schoenbrun/i-saw-the-tv-glow-review
no subject
that said, the director is/was definitely a fan. like it was important to them that we see Amber Benson alive and happy. the fandom experience rings true - the taping episodes and sharing them, the discussion of lore, choosing characters to identify with. so if someone is down on that they probably never had the experience or maybe are too young/had a nicer teenhood.