Teenager Owen feels like a misfit, living in the suburbs of a small American town in 1996. He is fascinated by trailers for a young adult television show, The Pink Opaque, that airs after his bedtime. When he finds out that Maddy, an older girl at school who is equally isolated, is a huge fan, he overcomes his chronic shyness to talk to her.
Over the next two years, the pair watch the show together when they can, or Maddy tapes it for him. Shortly after Maddy tells Owen she is leaving town, she disappears. When she unexpectedly returns eight years later, Maddy claims to have been living in the show.
Writer/director Jane Schoenbrun received acclaim for their previous feature We’re All Going to the World’s Fair and this has been advertised as another horror movie. Whilst, it is deeply unsettling, I saw it more as a drama encompassing themes of teen alienation and obsession, gender identity and mental illness.
Schoenbrun has identified Donnie Darko as an influence. That is apparent on screen, but I thought it was more reminiscent of the work of David Lynch, sharing the disconcerting atmosphere he is often able to conjure up. In a more historical context, the main villain in the show, Mr Melancholy is clearly modelled on the moon in Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon.
Owen is played by Ian Foreman initially and Justice Smith when he is older and Smith, in particular, captures Owen’s insecurities really well. Brigette Lundy-Paine is terrific as Maddy. The story flags a little once she disappears but this is an ambitious improvement on Schoenbrun’s previous film.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10