84
Metascore
40 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichSchoenbrun’s astonishing second feature manages to retain the seductive fear of their micro-budget debut and deepen its thrilling wounds of discovery even while examining them at a much larger scale.
- 100The PlaylistCarlos AguilarThe PlaylistCarlos AguilarWhere others could have made a less sophisticated pastiche, Schoenbrun has filtered the familiar through their nonconforming lens to beget a bona fide original.
- 100Vanity FairRichard LawsonVanity FairRichard LawsonThe film is among the most profound—and, yes, important—pieces of trans fiction that I’ve yet seen, vividly staged with bold, declarative style while remaining beguilingly elusive. It is open for all kinds of assessment, containing multitudes of meaning. I Saw the TV Glow is a great film to talk about, to pick apart with a friend or fellow traveler over dinner afterwards, to study and reflect on.
- 100The Hollywood ReporterJourdain SearlesThe Hollywood ReporterJourdain SearlesAt times, the film feels like a musical nightmare full of sadness and raw angst.
- 90New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreNew York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreI Saw the TV Glow manages to be enveloping without being inviting and to offer a sense of emotional intimacy without requiring that those emotions be comprehensible.
- 90IGNKatie RifeIGNKatie RifeAstonishingly beautiful and vulnerable, I Saw the TV Glow's surreal art-horror speaks to lonely teenagers, past and present.
- 80ColliderRoss BonaimeColliderRoss BonaimeI Saw the TV Glow is bold, unhinged, extremely unusual, and also kind of magnificent—a daring step forward for Schoenbrun as a filmmaker, and a film that will certainly divide audiences not sure what the hell to make of it.
- 80Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonThe spell that the writer-director slowly weaves is intoxicating.
- 80The GuardianBenjamin LeeThe GuardianBenjamin LeeI Saw the TV Glow marks a remarkable progression for Schoenbrun as both writer and director, a more substantive, if still challenging, narrative married with an incredible, expanded ability to fully immerse us in the visuals they have created. It’s made with such transportive precision that I can still feel it as I write.
- 70VarietyGuy LodgeVarietyGuy LodgeThis character-centered setup is where I Saw the TV Glow is most affecting, grounded by the tense, tacit bond between two highly guarded people — and given an electric jolt by Lundy-Paine’s fragile, volatile performance as someone certain there’s no accepting place for them outside the rectangular confines of the TV set. But