This is personally my first year ever attending the SXSW film festival and since I lost the first two days due to personal reasons, I Saw The TV Glow was the first movie that I got to watch at the festival and was it worth it? No. I really do regret losing the Oscars to watch this. I must confess that this film is one of those cases where I will tell you the movie is not good but most of you will enjoy it.
Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.
One thing is true; this movie won’t work with everyone, some people will love this while some people will really hate it. I don’t know which side I’m at right now because I wouldn’t say I really hated it, I just thought it was a letdown considering the studio, the premise and especially the performances of this movie. Justice Smith delivered the undoubtedly best performance of his entire career. I was jaw dropped when I watched his acting near the end of the movie but I wouldn’t say this was enough to make me enjoy the movie itself.
The first act of the movie was the best for me, getting to know this world and these characters was really fun, and how they met each other and their life experience and personality is just so amusing to know and explore. But unfortunately, the movie started to slow down even more, taking forever to get to a point where you know it’s getting, Justice Smith’s character was definitely the best part of it.
In general, the whole cast did an amazing job. Brigette Lundy-Paine was amazing from the first time she appeared on screen; we could see her suffering and concern through her performance, managing to convey the feeling of desperation that her character transmits. Besides good performances, I thought the movie really could’ve done better in showing and working on the plot lines with their story and pace.
Definitely check out the movie for yourself, because you might enjoy it way more than I did. But since this is just my opinion, I thought I Saw The TV Glow had incredible visuals and jaw-dropping performances. However, the plot always felt like it was taking forever to reach its destination. It ended up being a mostly dull yet creative film that couldn’t quite stick the landing.
I Saw The TV Glow releases in theaters on May 3.
