From Jane Schoenbrun, the writer and director of the indie sensation We're All Going to the World's Fair, comes I Saw the TV Glow. This new, spooky horror thriller is produced by none other than A24, the iconoclastic studio with a cult following that rejuvenated the horror genre with movies like The Witch and Midsommar.
I Saw the TV Glow is Schoenbrun's second directed feature film — World's Fair being their debut — and there is much to look forward to. With its intriguing and original plot and "wild and queer" cast, which includes hip, young actors as well as musicians such as Phoebe Bridgers, I Saw the TV Glow is bound to be a success with A24's young millennial demographic. While we wait for a release date, here's everything there is to know about it so far.
The Plot
Deadline announced the upcoming Jane Schoenbrun movie back in October 2021, providing a synopsis for the horror thriller that reads: "[I Saw the TV Glow] follows two teenage outcasts (played by Brigette Lundy-Paine and Justice Smith) who bond over their shared love of a scary television show, but the boundary between TV and reality begins to blur after it is mysteriously canceled."
No other information has yet been released about the plot, which bears some similarities to Schoenbrun's first feature, We're All Going to the World's Fair. A coming-of-age horror drama, World's Fair also features a teenage protagonist (played wonderfully by Anna Cobb) who struggles to separate fiction from reality after taking part in an online role-playing horror game. Among other things, World's Fair indirectly explores gender dysphoria through Cobb's Casey. It appears I Saw the TV Glow will build on this theme, taking into account its non-binary director, queer leads, and "boundary blurring" plot.
The Cast
Brigette Lundy-Paine and Justice Smith star as the leads in I Saw the TV Glow, playing the aforementioned teenage outcast friends. Lundy-Paine is a nonbinary actor who came to prominence playing Casey, the younger bisexual sister of Keir Gilchrist's protagonist, in all four seasons of the Netflix comedy-drama series Atypical. Lundy-Paine received strong praise for this role, which tracks Casey's queer journey, and even credits it for helping themself to come out. The actor, who is also part of a band named Subtle Pride, has since starred in Jay Roach's Bombshell, playing the role of Julia Clarke, and Dean Parisot's Bill & Ted Face the Music, playing Ted's (Keanu Reeves) daughter Billie Logan. In 2018, she also starred in the Johnny Knoxville feature Action Point.
Justice Smith had his acting breakthrough in 2016 playing Ezekiel Figuero in the Netflix drama The Get Down. Before that, he starred in Jake Schreier's adaptation of John Green's Paper Towns, playing Marcus "Radar" Lincoln, sidekick to Natt Wolff's Quentin Jacobsen. Since then, he can be seen in J. A. Bayona's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Brett Haley's All the Bright Places. Justice Smith also identifies as queer, and recently (2021) played the lead role of out and proud high schooler Chester in the HBO series Generation.
Joining Lundy-Paine and Smith in the ensemble cast for I Saw the TV Glow are several other talented actors, including:
- Helena Howard (Madeline's Madeline, The Wilds)
- Danielle Deadwyler (The Haves and the Have Nots, The Harder They Fall),
- Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Crush)
- Michael Maronna (The Adventures of Pete and Pete, Home Alone)
- Conner O'Malley (Palm Springs, Bodies Bodies Bodies)
- Danny Tamberelli (The Adventures of Pete and Pete, All That)
- Emma Portner (Ghostbusters: Afterlife)
- Ian Foreman (Ordinary Joe)
The film will also feature the following muscians:
- Lindsey Jordan of Snail Mail
- Kristina Esfandiari of King Woman
- Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit
- Phoebe Bridgers as part of Haley Dahl’s Sloppy Jane
The Crew
Jane Schoenbrun wrote and directed I Saw the TV Glow. A24 will produce the film, alongside Sam Intili, Fruit Tree's Emma Stone, Dave McCary, and Ali Herting; and Smudge Films' Sarah Winshall, who previously worked with Schoenbrun on World's Fair. A24 will also finance and distribute the film, which has cinematography from Eric Yue (The Giant).
I Saw the TV Glow has a much bigger budget than World's Fair, which may be reflected in the film's cinematography. At the very least, viewers can expect monsters and impressive crane shots afforded by the bigger budget, as Schoenbrun told Horror Cult Films as much. Music was a selling point for World's Fair, which was scored by indie wunderkind Alex G, and it looks like viewers can expect another great soundtrack from I Saw the TV Glow, given all the incredible musicians involved.
A24 themselves have been branching out into music lately, releasing the new Charli XCX song "Hot Girl" (as featured in Bodies Bodies Bodies) under their new music imprint. The sky is the limit with this studio, making for a perfect partnership with such a boundary-breaking director like Schoenbrun.
I Saw the TV Glow is in post-production and has no release date yet.