{"id":558565,"date":"2026-04-30T10:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/558565\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T10:52:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T10:52:14","slug":"why-buffy-fans-dont-want-to-miss-this-superb-nostalgic-90s-set-horror-now-on-netflix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/558565\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Buffy fans don’t want to miss this superb, nostalgic ’90s-set horror now on Netflix"},"content":{"rendered":"

If your teenage years were lived out vicariously through your favourite TV show, and if that show happened to be the late ’90s\/early ’00s cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then 2024 horror movie I Saw the TV Glow \u2013 which has now found a new home on Netflix<\/a> \u2013 just might speak to you. <\/p>\n

From filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow is essentially about teenagers Maddy (Jack Haven) and Owen (Justice Smith), who connect and bond over their shared love of a network show called The Pink Opaque, a fictional “monster of the week” YA series. But when that series gets cancelled, they start to lose touch with reality and are forced to grapple with what the show truly meant to them and why. <\/p>\n

Buffy, like the genre as a whole, became known for its use of metaphor to commentate on the teenage experience, giving the ‘horrors’ of those formative years a tangible, demonic face. As well as these largely universal themes, the beloved show also represented a safe space for those who perhaps didn’t have a community away from the screen, or felt like they were different and didn’t quite fit in. <\/p>\n

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I Saw the TV Glow both taps into and mirrors that same feeling, exploring themes of identity, queerness and belonging. The movie can also be read as an allegory for the trans experience<\/a>, with writer and director Jane Schoenbrun explaining<\/a> that “the film, at its deepest level, is about a queer journey towards self-discovery”.<\/p>\n

Set in the same time period that Buffy first back-flipped onto our screens, I Saw the TV Glow will also act as a welcome burst of nostalgia for millennials, as most of us are wistfully craving a time when the internet hadn’t yet fully infiltrated every area our lives, aside from the odd TV fandom message board, or an evening spent dialling-in to chat on MSN (get off the phone!). <\/p>\n

I Saw the TV Glow, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2024, has been widely-praised by critics. <\/p>\n

The Independent<\/a>‘s five-star review branded I Saw the TV Glow “a remarkable mystery drama that speaks directly to the trans experience”, going on to note that it’s “a film about how art sometimes knows us before we know ourselves, and how we can spend decades trying to unpick its secrets in the search for a truth we’re maybe too afraid to accept”.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile The Guardian<\/a>, which also awarded five stars, said the film was set to be a “future classic”, adding: “Jane Schoenbrun confirms their place as a superbly gifted film-maker with the weirdly wonderful story of two misfits finding solace in a creepy TV show.”<\/p>\n

Empire, via Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>, said: “Visceral and intensely moving, this film feels like something you’d stumble across on TV in the small hours and never forget. It might herald a new era for queer cinema.”<\/p>\n

“The best kind of personal film \u2013 a transmission directly from filmmaker to the audience member who needs it the most with a brazen message and affecting execution,” read the review from Flicks<\/a>. “You will find something in I Saw the TV Glow; or more accurately, it may find you.”<\/p>\n

So if you’re still devastated that our hopes for a return to Sunnydale have been dashed<\/a> (“grr, argh”), perhaps you can reminisce with a watch of I Saw the TV Glow. <\/p>\n

I Saw the TV Glow is streaming now on Netflix. <\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Sir David Attenborough, is here! Buy Sir David Attenborough in newsagents or online<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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TV Editor, Digital Spy<\/a> Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. \u00a0Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV<\/a> desk at the UK’s biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. \u00a0As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world’s oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).\u00a0<\/p>\n

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