I Saw the TV Glow is a a fantastic tale of how we relate to pop culture, as well as how we as individuals identify, and the restrictions put upon us by our environment who won’t let us become who we are.

While not for everyone, I found this film thought-provoking, wonderfully crafted and an emotional gut punch.

Owen (Justice Smith) is shy, unsure, and a bit of an outsider who can’t quite find their place in their small suburbia. He connects with Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) over a late night show called The Pink Opaque.

The Pink Opaque has a huge mythology behind it and seems like a blend of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (even using the same style of text in its credits) and Are You Afraid of the Dark? and the pair find an escape in it. They relate to the characters and the storylines and perhaps can find themselves through it.

That is until Maddy disappears, leaving behind a burning television.

Left alone, Owen struggles to just survive in suburbia, suffocated by his job, their home life, ignoring who they are inside.

When Maddy appears years later, she tells Owen that she’s been in the show, that they are too, they’ve been trapped in this life by the series’ Big Bad. They can’t trust anyone around them, and they have to be buried alive to break free – just like the way the season five finale played out.

Owen must confront their own fear, the way they feel shame and embarrassment when they revisit The Pink Opaque on a steaming service and its not what they remember, and the possibility that Maddy may be right.

The ending comes as a gut punch as Owen struggles with their existence and who they are versus who they want to be. Consequently the ending is painful, but may lead to something more, if Owen can be true to themselves, seen in the glow of the TV, hinted at by glimpses of things throughout the film, and Owen’s narration and fourth wall breaks to the camera.

It’s moving, occasionally frightening, and is a powerful allegory for the trans community. It is a search for identity, acceptance and self-realization. I quite liked this, and loved the way it incorporated pop culture, and how we see ourselves reflected in it.

We are the things we identify with, and television series are a huge part of that. It gives us a way to express things that we may not know how to in our own lives, but seeing characters we connect with going through similar experiences can role model how we can approach them.

I found this one really smart and like I said, thought-provoking. There is still time.