How 'I Saw the TV Glow' made a 'teen angst classic' soundtrack for the ages
What would you do if you found out that your past hadn't actually played out the way you remembered it? If everything that you thought you knew about your childhood — your emotions, your memories — was a lie? What would that shift, that realization, sound like?
The A24-released psychological horror movie I Saw the TV Glow, and its star-studded respective soundtrack, try to answer that question. Widely released May 17, the film is being praised for its imaginative visual language as well as compelling performances from its lead actors. But it also possesses a rare trait for a movie of its size: a purely original, carefully curated soundtrack that stands to enhance the film's thematic messaging. A long list of artists including acts like Caroline Polachek, Phoebe Bridgers and Bartees Strange contribute alongside artists like Maria BC and The Weather Station to create a rich, '90s-rock and early 2000s-influenced musical world indebted equally to youthful optimism and nihilism.
The sophomore feature from acclaimed indie director Jane Schoenbrun follows Owen (Justice Smith), a teenager who is forever changed when he meets Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) a fellow outcast who introduces him to the television program a conduit for monster-of-the-week shows of the '90s. The show becomes a guilty obsession for Owen; Maddy records him episodes, and the two teenagers become tethered over their shared connection, much like the program's
