Jane Schoenbrun, whose debut film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair was shot almost entirely through webcams, announces themself as a vital new cinematic talent. In their sophomore film, Schoenbrun focuses on two outcast teens, sheltered Owen and antisocial Maddy, who bond over The Pink Opaque, a Buffy and The Secret World of Alex Mack-inspired fantasy television series.“Sometimes The Pink Opaque feels more real than real life, you know?” says Maddy, who patterns her queer presentation after one of the show’s protagonists. The show becomes a neutral space where the two can grow close to one another while stifling the uncomfortable, painful facts of their suburban lives. I Saw The TV Glow spends most of its first half in a daze of nostalgia for the queer 90s, affectionate towards the period in a way that’s never saccharine. As the film goes on, its disparate horror elements coalesce into a gut-wrenching portrait of anxiety and repression. To discuss the film’s relationship to themes of transgender identity would be to delve too deeply into spoilers. But its depiction of the emotional distress which can accompany transgender life is among the most potent in cinema..–Little White Lies