Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

I Saw the TV Glow Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 5, 2025

Writer and director Jane Schoenbrun has a lot to say about I Saw the TV Glow, and while quite a bit of that discussion (delivered in both an audio commentary and a making of featurette included on this disc as supplements) may frankly seem more than a bit self serving (to the point of being self congratulatory), Schoenbrun does discuss how music and the choice of both source cues and on screen performances helped to define what I Saw the TV Glow was going to offer, at least subliminally. In that regard, it might be salient to remember the veritable "olden days" when the precursor to online retailers (which later became an online retailer), K-Tel, used to offer "greatest hits" packages via television commercials, often building packages around genres or years / decades. In that regard, it may seem like A24 is aping K-Tel in a way, with the recently reviewed Love Lies Bleeding paying homage to the eighties, and this film doing similar service for the nineties, as overtly mentioned by Schoenbrun. That emphasis on the nineties includes an allusion to the television version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which Schoenbrun mentions was a personal favorite, here refashioned as a series called The Pink Opaque. There's quite a bit of "opaque" (colored or otherwise) suffusing I Saw the TV Glow, a film which flirts with surrealism or at least psychedelic / hallucinatory aspects while offering a portrait of two "misfits" who bond over their love of The Pink Opaque. That précis hardly begins to describe a film that is actually fairly short on narrative but strong on mood and peculiar visuals.

The film jumps between time frames and perspectives, offering what amount to two "versions" of focal character Owen (played by Ian Foreman as a kid and Justice Smith as a young man or maybe older boy). The young Owen is not especially well adjusted, with two not especially nurturing parents (Fred Durst plays the Dad in what is probably the film's moment of "stunt casting"). When young Owen spies a somewhat older girl named Maddy (Jack Haven) reading an "episode guide" devoted to The Pink Opaque, an instant if somewhat faltering friendship is fostered, one which ends up having some completely gonzo consequences, as Schoenbrun starts to push the boundaries of what is "real" and what is what might termed obsessive fandom turning into an alternate reality. It's all very strange and largely inexplicable, or at least unexplained insofar as the screenplay seems deliberately designed to leave viewers unsettled without any clear account of what's "actually" going on.

If I Saw the TV Glow may understandably frustrate some on a purely narrative level, it offers some really audacious visuals, with a weirdly fascinating palette that tends to offer lime greens and royal purples crashing into each other with abandon. Some of the imagery is arresting enough to perhaps distract from the fact that the story seems to take a back seat to how everything looks.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf evidently liked I Saw the TV Glow even less than I did. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

I Saw the TV Glow Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I Saw the TV Glow is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of A24 with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer (often) in 1.85:1 (occasional interstitials documenting the "old school" television series The Pink Opaque are in 1.33:1). Perhaps surprisingly, I Saw the TV Glow was shot on good old fashioned 35mm film, though the look here might arguably be compared to Super 16 at times, since there's an emphasis on pretty heavy grain and a highly textured appearance. Detail levels are typically great throughout, though there are such aggressive grading and lighting choices at times that fine detail can occasionally at least slightly ebb. It's the palette that will probably strike most eyes as the instantly defining thing about the presentation, and there's a really striking level of suffusion in the sometimes peculiar combination of tones that are thrust next to each other in the frame.

I Saw the TV Glow Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Pink Opaque features a nicely boisterous Dolby Atmos track that probably really struts its surround stuff the most noticeably in terms of some of the aforementioned music, which is bountiful and even includes a quasi-club scene with on screen performances. There is also some good use of the side and rear channels in particular to establish spatial relationships even in relatively quieter scenes involving Owen and Maddy. A few outdoor scenes also have good placement of ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

I Saw the TV Glow Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Filmmaker Commentary with Jane Schoenbrun and Brigette Lundy-Paine


• Ear Worms: The Anthems, Tributes and Testaments of I Saw the TV Glow (HD; 10;#9) offers Schoenbrun discussing some of the musical choices for the film.


• Deleted Scenes offer several examples of what might be jokingly referred to as "hold my beer" moments in terms of those who might have expected Schoenbrun to have put the weirdest stuff in the final cut:

  Burger Express (HD; 00:33)

  
  

  Clown Dance (HD; 1:23)

  
  

  Election Oner (HD; 1:46)

  
  

  Marco Dance (HD; 1:27)

  
  

  Marco Polo Dance (HD; 1:57)

  
  

  Morning Durst (HD; 1:18)

  
  

  Outside Movie (HD; 00:36)

  
  

  Owen in Snow (HD; 00:39)

  
  

  Projector (HD; 00:28)

  
  

  TPO Locker (HD; 00:33)

  
  

  Tux and Fanny (HD; 1:23)

  
  

  Yap (HD; 00:50)

This is another A24 exclusive that follows their packaging tradition of offering a DigiPack with art cards enclosed in a slipbox.

I Saw the TV Glow Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Schoenbrun certainly has an eye for showy visuals, but perhaps not quite so much flair with crafting a comprehensible screenplay. There are a ton of interesting ideas floating through the surreal landscape of I Saw the TV Glow, but they're simply never woven together very authoritatively. Technical merits are solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.