When a director as incredible as Martin Scorsese recommends a film, you’d better darn well go and see it immediately, especially when it’s one of the year’s best and most overlooked movies.
Speaking to the Associated Press about his upcoming project, The Saints, the director was asked if he’d seen anything recently that he liked. “There was one film I liked a great deal I saw two weeks ago called I Saw the TV Glow,” he says. “It really was emotionally and psychologically powerful and very moving. It builds on you, in a way. I didn’t know who made it. It’s this Jane Schoenbrun.”
I Saw The TV Glow is a psychological horror film written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, starring Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine. It follows the pair as they become increasingly drawn to a late-night show called The Pink Opaque which causes them to question their very reality.
Unfortunately, the film got a very limited release, not playing in many cinemas at all. The movie is now out on digital, though, so it’s possible to rent and buy it from a lot of virtual storefronts.
I Saw The TV Glow is read by many fans as a trans allegory – specifically, questioning your gender at a time when it was difficult to find trans community. Writer and director Schoenbrun is a nonbinary trans person, and the plot revolving around question one’s reality and their place in the world certainly make a convincing case for this interpretation of the film. It’s also seen more broadly as a film about discovering your queer identity.
If you want to make sure you don’t miss anymore great films, check out our list of upcoming movies.