This Surrealist Horror Masterpiece Is Now Streaming on HBO Max: “an arresting fever dream of angst and terror”
Do you fancy a cinematic meditation on heavy themes like identity and self-discovery? Are you a fan of the surreal and dreamlike world of Twin Peaks? If you answered in the affirmative to both of those prompts, we’re off to a great start. However, I still have one more screening question before I am comfortable making an informed recommendation. Please bear with me.
My final question is this: Are you a fan of ‘90s nostalgia and the iconic output of Nickelodeon circa that pivotal decade? If you are three for three at this point, I am finally comfortable recommending a surreal throwback with which multiple members of the Dread Central team connected.
More specifically, I’m talking about Jane Schoenbrun‘s coming-of-age horror picture I Saw the TV Glow. The film is a surreal mediation on heavy themes that counts the aforementioned references as points of inspiration.
The setup for this visually striking effort is this:
A classmate introduces teenage Owen 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.
The above plot crunch doesn’t give too much away, which is for the best. There are plenty of unexpected developments in store that we don’t want to spoil. We can safely say, however, that our Chad Collins critiqued the film out of Sundance and was quite taken. He had the following to say:
“It’s an arresting fever dream of angst and terror that throttles the audience with affecting truths, augmented by sensational music (Alex G, a legend) and arresting, analog visuals courtesy of Eric K. Yue.“
Chad isn’t the only fan of the film on our team. Josh Korngut named the flick as his favorite horror picture of 2024. That’s quite a collection of endorsements, indeed.
In addition to helming the picture, director Schoenbrun also takes the sole screenwriting credit on the project.
The cast includes a combination of familiar faces and newcomers. Justice Smith, Jack Haven, Helena Howard, Lindsey Jordan, Conner O’Malley, Emma Portner, Ian Foreman, and Fred Durst round out the cast. Yes, that Fred Durst.
If you’re curious to see if I Saw the TV Glow is for you, we suggest heading over to Max where you can presently find the film streaming.
That’s just about all that we’ve got in the way of surreal cinematic recommendations for the time being. Make sure to stay tuned to the site in the near future for more streaming spotlights.
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