I Saw the TV Glow is the new fantasy/horror/dreamscape from A24 and writer-director Jane Schoenbrun, who made the 2021 film We’re All Going To The World’s Fair. Like that film, Alex G did the score, and there are lots more indie musicians on the soundtrack this time.
The soundtrack includes new songs from Sloppy Jane featuring former member Phoebe Bridgers, Caroline Polachek, Snail Mail, Jay Som, L’Rain, Maria BC, King Woman, Yeule, Florist, Bartees Strange, The Weather Station, Drab Majesty, Hop Along‘s Frances Quinlan, Proper., and Sadurn. Snail Mail’s Lindsay Jordan also has a significant part in the film, as does Fred Durst, and Sloppy Jane with Phoebe Bridgers perform in the film alongside King Woman.
In an interview on Vulture, Schoenbrun talked about how Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a major influence on the film. Schoenbrun made mixes for all the musicians doing songs for the film and said, “I want you to write the song you would have played if you had shown up on Buffy in season three.”
The film’s very vibey trailer, which was released today, features Yeule’s cover of Broken Social Scene’s “Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl.” The trailer also opens with this line of dialogue: “Do you remember a TV show we used to watch together? It was called The Pink Opaque.” Some people may also recognize that as the title of a 1986 Cocteau Twins compilation that was many Americans’ first introduction to the band.
The Pink Opaque is central to I Saw the TV Glow‘s plot and here’s the official synopsis: “Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him 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.”
You can watch the trailer below.
I Saw the TV Glow premiered at Sundance in January and will be in theaters on May 3 via A24.
