In Jane Schoenbrun’s cult sensation, two weirdo teens find solace in a girlie pastiche of Power Rangers with Buffy-friendly fonts.
Prepare for time jumps. In the mid-1990s, lonely, newly adolescent Owen meets cooler, older teen Maddy when he spots her reading an episode guide for the YA serial The Pink Opaque. In every episode the Sapphic-coded duo Isabel and Tara square up against a new monster dispatched by supervillain Mr Melancholy.
Years pass. Despite their comforting fandom, Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) live sad, isolated lives. His mother, Brenda (Danielle Deadwyler), becomes terminally ill; his father, Frank (Fred Durst), forbids Owen from watching such a feminine show. Maddy is ostracised for lesbianism and a related schoolyard tall tale. Determined to escape her stepfather, Maddy disappears and the mysterious show is finally cancelled after five seasons.
More years pass. The preceding events turn out to be merely a prelude to Schoenbrun’s surreal analogy for gender dysmorphia.
Do believe the hype. Following on from the writer-director’s achingly hip debut feature, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, this extravagantly imaginative fable intersects with Mark Fisher’s writings on the weird and the eerie and the strange, hallowed aura of older, spookier TV shows.
The trans community, including the impressive Brigette Lundy-Paine, has embraced the film as an analogy for transition.
The mythology, which becomes increasingly disturbing, is meticulous. But the same material proves a rich seam, a tale of roads not taken, a story that will speak to anyone who experienced an awkward pubescence or the jouissance of pop-culture enthusiasms.
Smith, who has impressed from the sidelines of such noisy blockbusters as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, offers a masterclass in put-upon, self-censoring restraint. A late startling image signals that he carries his missed opportunities with him. It’s a haunting spectacle that will leave you reeling, even before a heartbreaking aftermath.
I Saw the TV Glow is in cinemas from Friday, July 26th
