7. Beyond the Black Rainbow
This one is admittedly a little unusual in terms of choices for the list, but if you’re looking for a film that not only has lo-fi aesthetics like I Saw the TV Glow but will leave you with a lot to unpack after you’ve seen it, then Beyond the Black Rainbow is one you want to check out. Written and directed by Panos Cosmatos, Beyond the Black Rainbow premiered at the 2010 Whistler Film Festival before being released in the United States in 2012. The film is set in an alternate reality 1980s and centers around a young woman named Elena, who has powerful psychic and telekinetic powers but who is controlled by a mysterious crystal and experimented on by the shady Dr. Nyle. As things worsen for Elena, she looks for a way to escape.
While there isn’t a lot of thematic overlap — though one could successfully argue that the feeling of being trapped and the desire to escape your current circumstances is one that is shared between Beyond the Black Rainbow and I Saw the TV Glow — the film’s aesthetic is what really makes this a great film to add to your list (it’s also just really weird and challenging and if you also like Stranger Things, you’ll probably like this, too.)
I Saw the TV Glow is now streaming on Max
6. Super Dark Times
Teenage friends? The 1990s? Trauma? Check, check, check. Super Dark Times is a 2017 film written by Ben Collins and Luke Piotorwski and directed by Kevin Phillips and while it’s more of a psychological thriller than it is a horror film, there are some themes that make it a film to watch after I Saw the TV Glow. In Super Dark Times, two teen best friends, Zach and Josh come across Josh’s brothers’ marijuana and a katana and a series of disturbing events ensue as the two friends find themselves caught in a whirlwind of jealousy, violence, and paranoia that leads to death and both Zach and Josh forever changed.
While Super Dark Times isn’t true horror, there is something sort of horror adjacent to aspects of the teen experience, especially when one choice leads to life-altering consequences and unravelling. It’s the coming-of-age aspect of things, and specifically in the case of this film a coming of age that leads to darkness that makes this a fascinating watch.
5. Mulholland Drive
Another film that isn’t exactly a horror entry, Mulholland Drive is a 2001 film written and directed by David Lynch and what makes this film — which let’s be frank here, you should watch just because it’s a fantastic film and is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made — a worthy watch after I Saw the TV Glow is how it plays with the idea of reality and perception. At its most basic, the film is functionally a dark fable about the Hollywood dream as it descends into nightmare though because of its surreal nature the film has layers and meaning that may shift for you each time you watch it. In the film, aspiring actress Betty Elms (Naomi Watts) becomes friends with a woman, Rita (Laura Harring) who has amnesia following a car accident and attempts to help Rita figure out her real identity. However, as the film progresses there are hints and clues that things may not be quite as they seem.
4. The Blair Witch Project
You can’t have a list of movie suggestions of things to watch after watching a horror movie with 1990s references without adding 1999’s The Blair Witch Project to the list. Well, you can but what would you even be doing with your life? Written and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, The Blair Witch Project is a “found footage” style supernatural horror film that follows three student filmmakers who hike into the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland to make a documentary about the local myth of the Blair Witch. The trio disappears, but a year later their equipment and footage is found — that “footage” being what the viewer is watching — and it reveals an unsettling and sinister fate for the trio.
Outside of the 1990s aspect of it all, The Blair Witch Project has an ending that is, to an extent, slightly ambiguous and leaves the viewer wondering what exactly has happened — much like the ending of I Saw the TV Glow.
3. Skinamarink
This one might be the most controversial choice on this list because it doesn’t necessarily have any real full on thematic similarities between it and I Saw the TV Glow, but not only does Skinamarink fit in with the overall lo-fi vibe it’s also another recent horror film that has achieved viral popularity — so you might as well check it out for those reasons alone. Released in 2023 and written and directed by Kyle Edward Ball, Skinamarink follows a brother and a sister who wake up one night to find that not only can they not find their father, but doors, windows, and other things in their home are disappearing, with the children soon learning that there is a malevolent presence in the home and their reality beginning to distort into insanity. In a word, it’s creepy. It’s very, very creepy.
2. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Released in 2021, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair was written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun who also made I Saw the TV Glow and is in fact the first film in what Schoenbrun calls their Screen Trilogy (I Saw the TV Glow is the second). The film follows teenage girl, Casey, who decides to do a viral social media challenge called the “World’s Fair Challenge” in which she says “I want to go to the World’s Fair” three times, draws blood from her finger, and smears it on her laptop computer screen before watching a strobe light video and tells viewers in her own video that she’ll update if she notices any changes. Things go off the rails a bit from there as she begins to experience physical and mental changes. It’s a fascinating and often haunting horror take on teenage self-discovery that taps into both nostalgia as well as the digital era of urban legends and the threats they can pose on and offline. Not only is it a must watch if you enjoyed I Saw the TV Glow because of Schoenbrun, but it’s just a damn good film.
1. Donnie Darko
This list would be remiss without Donnie Darko. Written and directed by Richard Kelly and released in 2001, Donnie Darko might be the ultimate movie about the twisting nature of reality and perception. In the film troubled teenager Donnie escapes dying in a freak accident by sleepwalking where he sees a weird figure in a rabbit costume that tells him his world will end in a very specific amount of time. Over that time, Donnie starts to have weird hallucinations — influenced by the mysterious man in the bunny costume, Frank — and a series of events unfold. The movie is weird and unsettling, with viewers left to question what was real. The film is iconic and is one of those things you just have to see for yourself, but the ideas of perception and reality make it a nice complement to I Saw the TV Glow.
