The unreliable haze of nostalgia, the intoxicating connection that comes from a shared obsessive fandom, and the tricks the mind plays to shield us from unbearable truths all come into play in I Saw the TV Glow, the latest psychological horror movie from writer-director Jane Schoenbrun.
The Pink Opaque itself is about an unusually bonded duo: two girls who meet at summer camp, discover they have a psychic connection, then fight against evil together using their minds despite being physically apart from each other. Though the villains we see are mostly corny , the “big bad,” as Maddy solemnly educates Owen, is known as Mr. Melancholy. He has the ability to alter time and reality and seeks to entrap his foes in the unpleasant-sounding “Midnight Realm.