Discovering and holding on to works of art that touch you in a profound, formative way is a beautiful part of growing up in a world so thoroughly saturated with mass media. In her first film We’re all going to the World’s FairWriter-director Jane Schoenbrun transformed this aspect of childhood into an intimate coming-of-age horror about finding identity online.
But with their second feature, A24’s I saw the television light upSchoenbrun cultivates this idea into an even more disturbing, moving narrative, portraying obsessive fandom as both a blessing and a curse. Whereas We’re all going to the World’s Fair was a snapshot of life in the age of modern social media, I saw the television light up is an exploration of what it felt like to be an excluded teenager in the ’90s – a time when young science fiction and fantasy fans often had to find each other by chance.
Although there are bright flashes of color in seventh-grader Owen’s (Ian Foreman) memories from his younger years, his world has become a landscape of suburban beige and muted neon tones I saw the television light up introduces him on the night of an election in 1996. With his school turned into a polling station and full of unfamiliar faces, it’s the last place he wants to be, especially with his mother Brenda (Danielle Deadwyler) breathing down his neck. But when Owen sets out to see what the halls of Void High look like at night, when the dim lighting makes the building seem almost otherworldly, he unexpectedly meets Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), a moody ninth grader, whose face is buried in a cloud book.
Although they are both loners looking for social contacts, the two awkward teenagers initially don’t seem to get along or share many common interests. But when Owen catches a glimpse of what Maddy is reading – an episode guide for a teen horror/fantasy series titled The pink opaque poet – His curiosity about the TV show makes her passionate about talking about it, and the two begin an unusual, complicated friendship.
With We all go out into the world‘S JustSchoenbrun created an unsettling and intense atmosphere of terror by setting his story largely in a single dark room and repeatedly cutting to videos of people participating in the film’s mysterious, creepypasta-inspired web game. I saw the television light up explores much more of the “real” world in which the slightly older Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy live outside of their bedrooms and basement, where they can secretly watch The pink opaque poet together for the first time.
But when the teenagers start talking about their everyday problems – his father (Fred Durst) is emotionally abusive and she isn’t safe in her own home – I saw the television light up also dives in The pink opaque poetis the reality of the monster of the week in a way that illustrates things about Owen and Maddy that neither of them can fully articulate. Although I saw the television light up The film opens with a lo-fi 90s aesthetic reminiscent of coming-of-age dramas My so-called life And Freaks and geeksit is through the Buffy the Vampire Slayer-like blows from The pink opaque poet that the film is a story about queer people finding themselves in the pre-internet age of genre fandom.
To everyone else, The pink opaque poet is just a cheesy show about two girls who meet at summer camp, discover that they have a strong psychic connection, and then use that bond to routinely defeat the forces of evil after returning to their families on opposite sides of the county have returned. But for Owen and Maddy, the series’ heroines, Isabel (Helena Howard) and Tara (Lindsey Jordan), provide a much-needed escape from the monotony of their everyday lives. The pink opaque poet touches children so deeply that over time they begin to wonder whether they may actually have a supernatural connection to it.
There are initially clear boundaries between I saw the television light upThe lo-fi reality and the phosphorescent world of The pink opaque poetSchoenbrun blurs these boundaries in the style of David Lynch as the film follows Owen and Maddy through years of a secret friendship. As time pulls the two in different directions, the listlessness that dominates their lives takes on a disturbing, eerie quality. In fact, the two of them feel just as at risk beforehand as Isabel and Tara The pink opaque poetThe cliffhanger finale of season five. And when Maddy’s house goes up in flames and she mysteriously disappears that same week The pink opaque poet is canceled, Owen can’t help but wonder if there might be something to her suspicions that the show is much more than just a TV series.
In contrast to the film’s rich tonal palette, which is enhanced by the appearances of musicians such as Phoebe Bridgers and Haley Dahl as herself, I saw the television light upThe lead actors deliver understated performances that show rather than tell who Owen and Maddy are. They’re fans of a show that, at least for Owen, seems to get easier as the years go by and is something that’s really meant for kids. But they are also two people struggling with existential dysphoria The pink opaque poet helps them to understand better. Even if the show can’t solve their problems, it gives them a framework of queer identity into which to project themselves and a language to express the deep-seated feelings that make them feel so different from other people.
The more the film goes into psychological fantasy thriller mode, the harder it becomes to tell how firmly Owen and Maddy know what is real and what isn’t. But instead of making a character’s story feel like a puzzle that you have to solve every time The pink opaque poet Instead, Bleeding into Reality illustrates what it can feel like to long for something you believe only exists in fiction on television.
Despite its handful of distracting, fourth-wall-breaking exposition dumps, I saw the television light up is a compelling watch as a standalone film that attempts to capture the essence of being one of these weirdos. The most promising thing about the film, however, is how clearly it speaks to the way Schoenbrun’s larger vision for her “Screen Trilogy” – which began with We’re all going to the World’s Fair – has grown. The evolution of a filmmaker’s voice isn’t always reason enough to be intrigued by the prospect of what they might create next. But Schoenbrun seems to have the heat, and I saw the television light up is a strong sign of even greater things to come.
I saw the television light up Amber Benson, Emma Portner, Kristina Esfandiari, Connor O’Malley and Danny Tamberelli also star. The film opens in select theaters on May 3rd and will have a wider release on May 17th.