I Saw The TV Glow Ending Explained (2024)

Spoilers are ahead for I Saw the TV Glow.

Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow's story clicks into place when Owen (Ian Foreman; Justice Smith) is in the car with his parents. After Owen admits to wanting to watch the surreal young-adult series The Pink Opaque, Owen's abusive father Frank (Fred Durst) scoffs his only line in the film, disgustedly noting that The Pink Opaque is a show "for girls." A younger Owen discovered his love of the TV show after meeting fellow teenager Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), a queer loner who is obsessed with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer-style TV series.

The fictional show, The Pink Opaque, centers on two teenage girls, Isabel (Helena Howard) and Tara (Lindsey Jordan), who discover a psychic connection that allows them to harness supernatural abilities and fight off monsters of the week. Not only does Owen take an interest in the show, the teen sees themself reflected in the series, and, in particular, in the character of Isabel. Although Maddy tries to help Owen embrace their truth, the protagonist of I Saw the TV Glow's cast of characters struggles to accept their true self — or even look at that reality.

Owen Finally Looks Inside To See Their True Self

I Saw The TV Glow's Ending Gets Even More Surreal

As I Saw the TV Glow unfolds, it skips ahead to middle-aged Owen's life. The character never leaves the suburban town they grew up in — and were suffocated by — even after Frank dies. When the movie theater Owen worked at goes out of business, the then-teen accepts a job at a Chuck E. Cheese-style arcade. Adult Owen is gaunt — a husk of who they could have been — and can barely breathe without wheezing. All of Owen's anxiety has transformed into a physical kind of weight. In short, the weight of not being their true self is crushing Owen.

During a children's birthday party, Owen has a panic attack and starts screaming. Everyone in the room, from the kids to the parents to Owen's colleagues, freeze up. It's a stopped moment in time — a pause. Increasingly, Owen's reality has blurred with TV show tropes; the character even narrates what's going on to the audience. Terrified, Owen flees to the bathroom. Realizing what needs to be done, Owen cuts into their own chest, revealing a glowing, static-filled television in the middle of their body. Owen looks at what's inside — the bright, unavoidable truth — and, maybe, finally acknowledges their transness.

Owen Refuses Maddie's Offer To Escape For The Second Time

The Pink Opaque Starts To Bleed Into I Saw The TV Glow's Reality

The incredibly surreal ending sequence of I Saw the TV Glow is set up by some startling revelations. Although Maddy disappeared years ago, she returns to the small suburban town that would have killed her to try and save Owen. Previously, Maddy had asked Owen to run away with her — to live their true lives together. Afraid to accept that truth, Owen didn't go with her. At this point in the movie, the lines between reality and the world of The Pink Opaque are blurred. Maddie explains her life, and identity, through metaphor — through the plotlines of The Pink Opaque. She insists that Owen must be buried alive and crawl out in order to awake in their true life.

Maddie Returns To Town & Pushes Owen To Uncover Buried Memories

Owen Refused To See Their Trans Identity

By refusing to acknowledge their true self, Owen is essentially buried alive in real life. In many ways, The Pink Opaque lore seeping into the "real world" is a metaphorical means of explaining that Owen isn't really living their life. Instead of taking action — any kind of action — Owen just continues on the path in front of them. It's killing Owen, but the truth feels even scarier. When Maddy returns to town, she suggests that Owen's reality is fake and that the world of The Pink Opaque is what's real. That is, Owen is Isabel. By that, I Saw the TV Glow means that Owen is a trans woman.

Owen has always felt a kinship with Isabel because the teen wants to be Isabel — to live openly as someone who looks like her. This is echoed by Maddy's admiration of Tara, The Pink Opaque's tough-as-nails lesbian-coded character. Maddy and Owen bonded so deeply over the show because they saw their truest selves in Tara and Isabel. While Maddy seized the chance to be Tara, despite her fear, Owen did not take the same action. When Maddy returns to try and rescue Owen a second time, Owen starts to unearth long-buried memories of wearing a dress and embodying the person they hoped to be, acknowledge, and accept one day.

Owen Realizes The Pink Opaque Isn't Very Good

Revisiting The Past Doesn't Have The Same Effect

While uncomfortably being forced to look at a long-buried truth that Owen has always known but has refused to accept, the character revisits The Pink Opaque. Decades after it first aired, the TV show is streaming. Owen is shocked to find that it's a terrible show that doesn't at all live up to their nostalgia-tinged love for it. By revealing that The Pink Opaque isn't all that good to an adult Owen, I Saw the TV Glow reiterates that the character's escapism and life-line doesn't have the same pull and satisfaction as it did when they were a kid. Able to make their own life now, Owen can't be satisfied with escapism and must take action instead.

Are I Saw The TV Glow's Final Scenes Hopeful?

There's Still Time For Owen To Be Happy

After Owen looks inside their own chest and stares at their glowing, beautiful truth, I Saw the TV Glow doesn't end. Instead, the film cuts to Owen walking through the lobby of the arcade, apologizing to everyone they encounter while I Saw the TV Glow's soundtrack swells. No one really acknowledges Owen or seems to hear Owen's apologies.

​​​​​​​The character has spent so much time worrying about what others think of their trans identity that they have allowed themself to become small — to be crushed by the weight of not living a full and true life. While this is a harrowing, searing final image, an earlier piece of graffiti outside Owen's house reads, "It's not too late." And that's true for Owen, who has finally taken the first and hardest step.

I Saw the TV Glow

PG-13

Drama

Horror

I Saw the TV Glow is a horror film by writer-director Jane Schoenbrun, released in 2024. A young man named Owen is introduced to a late-night TV show that reflects their reality. As the two begin to bond over the series, it suddenly is canceled, causing Owen's view of reality to shatter.

Director

Jane Schoenbrun

Release Date

January 18, 2024

Studio(s)

Smudge Films , Fruit Tree

Distributor(s)

A24

Writers

Jane Schoenbrun

Cast

Justice Smith , Brigette Lundy-Paine , Danielle Deadwyler , Fred Durst , Helena Howard , Ian Foreman

Runtime

100 Minutes