What Scariness Looks Like in 2024

In 2024, a new horror film is set to shock audiences, but not in the usual way. Fears change over time and from person to person; even what spooked us as kids can seem different now. The movie "I Saw The TV Glow" takes us back to 1996, focusing on a teen named Owen and his friend Maddy. They love a strange late-night TV show, "The Pink Opaque, " which feels like a cross between "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and Nickelodeon's weirdest programs. Owen's father doesn't approve, so he watches secret VHS tapes Maddy records. Soon, Owen can't tell what's real and what's not, and then Maddy vanishes. The sudden cancellation of "The Pink Opaque" adds to the confusion. The film isn't about traditional jump scares. It's about that feeling of something being deeply wrong and unsettling, like life isn't quite right. This is especially true if you feel out of sync with the world because of who you are. That unease grows until it's overwhelming.

The director, Jane Schoenbrun, is non-binary. The story seems to be an allegory for the trans experience, exploring the fear and terror of not living as your true self. Owen grows up, represses his identity, and ends up a shell of his former self at work. But the story offers hope. Even at the end, Owen faces his truth and realizes it's never too late to be yourself. It's a unique kind of horror. Not monsters or blood, but the chilling realization that life could've been different if you hadn't hidden who you really are.

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