Jane Schoenbrun is definitely one of the most interesting filmmakers to make their mark – and blow it up – on the horror genre in recent years. That’s saying something, as the last decade or so has been a good year for new talent within the genre, with Schoenbrun worthy of consideration alongside the likes of Schönbrun Ari Aster, Robert Eggers, Coralie Fargeat, Zach CreggerAnd Jordan Peeleas for this whole new wave of horror directors (admittedly Cregger and Peele were known for other things before turning to horror, but still). Schoenbrun’s three films to date are all broadly in the horror genre and all deal with similar themes thematically (particularly in relation to identity), although there are some major tonal differences, although it is also notable that each one focuses on a different type of media or form of entertainment.
These three feature films form together what feels like a thematic trilogyand they are all captivating, strange and memorable in their own way. They’re also films that are hard to describe, and they’re probably not for everyone, but they are It’s worth checking out if you like horror movies that take risks and go to different places that other horror movies don’t usually go. You’re dealing with three visually daring, tonally diverse and atmospherically haunting films here, and Schoenbrun’s past consistency as a director makes it quite difficult to rank these films, but that’s certainly what’s intended here.
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“We’re all going to the World’s Fair” (2021)
It’s difficult to find information about when exactly We’re all going to the World’s Fair was filmed, although shot to feel like a COVID-era production, and was first shown in 2021. There are very few characters and people don’t really spend time together in the same frame, as much of the film takes place on different online platforms and the few characters in the film communicate over the internet. So it was a creative workaround for the physical restrictions imposed in 2020, or, if the film was made before the lockdowns, it was strangely prescient of what the first few years of the 2020s felt like. The plot itself is about a young girl named Casey who repeatedly goes down strange online rabbit holes and becomes particularly psychologically unhinged after taking part in a viral trend called the “World’s Fair Challenge”.
Most other films that involve online interaction on this scale don’t understand the Internet nearly as well as We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.
If you’ve ever spent more time than you’d like in various online spaces, We’re all going to the World’s Fair captures that unease and the feeling of time slipping away quite viscerally. Narratively it doesn’t move quite as well as Schoenbrun’s other films, and visually it’s definitely not as adventurous or stunning as those, but since it’s more of an experience it feels very grounded and eerie at times. Most other films involve online interaction to this extent Don’t understand the internet nearly as well as I do We’re all going to the World’s Fairso it shouldn’t be too surprising if it’s a pretty great time capsule for a specific area in the broader online world around the late 2010s/early 2020s. It was also a confident and largely convincing debut for Schoenbrun, although they actually went on to do bigger and better things, cinematically speaking, in the years that followed We’re all going to the World’s FairPublication. A typical example…
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“Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” (2026)
It’s a movie called Teenage sex and death at Camp Miasmaso of course it’s pretty wild. It’s still surprising how many opportunities this film takes to go big and get weird, and it’s not like it had a big enough budget to seem like a blank check project, but Jane Schoenbrun used a bigger budget than either of her first two films (the second one, which we’ll get to, was also a step up in scope in comparison). We’re all going to the World’s Fair). Teenage sex and death at Camp Miasma It also has a lot more comedy compared to its predecessors and finds ways – sometimes far-reaching and sometimes rather underhanded – to comment on, mock and appreciate horror films that have come before. There are indeed places where things are so much appreciated but given a name, but then again there is no joke about how HalloweenThe villain is named Michael Myers, while there is also an actor named Mike Myers, but the joke is more about how over the top this joke is. There are layers there in that one moment and then so many other layers throughout Teenage sex and death at Camp Miasmawhat makes your head spin trying to keep up and keep track exactly what is going on at which level.
There’s something to be said for just going with the flow and not trying to understand something like this 100%. Since it’s a new film, this may not be true, but for now it feels like a film that would really benefit from repeated viewings. As for the first viewing? It’s still pretty fun when it comes to a queer filmmaker tasked with rebooting a kind of popular – but also pretty dated – horror franchise called “Camp Miasma,” which is most comparable to “Camp Miasma.” Friday the 13thand then second most commonly comparable to Sleeping camp. The filmmaker’s protagonist goes to great lengths here in trying to realize her vision, determined to bring the lead actress from the first Camp Miasma film back into the lead role, and then things get weird. What the series means to these two women and what they might do in the series in the future is what the film is mainly about. It is also postmodern in a way that goes much further than others Scream (actually the whole series) and The cabin in the forestthese are more horror films with comedic meta elements. The same itch is caused by scratching Teenage sex and death at Camp Miasmabut the scratching is much more vigorous, so that it bleeds in some places. But if you’re interested in it – and willing to join in and have a lot of wild things thrown at you – then it’s definitely worth a look.
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“I Saw the TV Glow” (2024)
While Jane Schoenbrun’s other two films have seven-word titles, they are the best overall. I saw the television light upis characterized by the fact that the title “only” consists of five words. So when Schoenbrun next makes a film with even fewer words in the title, you know you’re in for something absolutely revolutionary. No not really. It’s actually a bit difficult to say this is better than Teenage sex and death at Camp Miasmabecause there is a good case to be made that every film Schoenbrun directed was slightly better than the last. The ambition of this third film is quite impressive, especially when you try to understand everything it’s aiming at, but there is some impact I saw the television light up by getting to the point. Calling it more direct doesn’t feel quite right, however, as there’s still a lot going on here and the focus here is on television rather than online spaces (as in We’re all going to the World’s Fair) or cinema (Teenage sex and death at Camp Miasma). In this second Schoenbrun film, there are two main characters who grow closer as teenagers over their love (or possibly obsession) for a television show called The Pink Opaque.
They come together again as young adults, both with very different worldviews, and the narrative revolves around how making or not making a decision at a crucial moment can potentially haunt you for the rest of your life. To say that something happens “quietly” is a bit of an exaggeration at this point, but I saw the television light up is scary in a quiet way, so that description really applies here. It’s not particularly frightening in the moment, barring a few unsettling visual moments, but the film as a whole feels eerie when you look back and realize what it has to say about identity and the trans experience (which is the main allegory here, and while it’s not subtle, the way it treats this subject is undeniably unique). I saw the television light up It’s all a bit difficult to put into words and in some ways very depressing, Despite all this, it remains Jane Schoenbrun’s easiest film to recommendespecially if you want to have an idea of their style and thematic interests relatively well summarized in one film. It’s a film that stays in the memory, and the idea that it will age well in the years – or perhaps even decades – to come doesn’t feel too extreme at all.
I saw the television light up
- Release date
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May 3, 2024
- Duration
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100 minutes
- director
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Jane Schoenbrun
- writer
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Jane Schoenbrun
