Jane Schoenbrun: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Jane Schoenbrun makes films about screens as portals — the egg-crack horror of recognizing yourself in a VHS tape or a webcam feed. Their map runs from Lynchian suburban dread and 1990s basic-cable programming through YouTube creepypasta and indie-rock melancholy, into the queer and trans DIY filmmaking networks they helped build from Brooklyn.

The Kynda mix for Jane Schoenbrun

• Key Influence · Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me by David Lynch (1992). Schoenbrun has repeatedly named Lynch, and this film in particular, as the formative key: a suburban teenage girl's interior terror rendered as supernatural horror, with television itself as the haunted object. The structure of I Saw the TV Glow — a show-within-a-show whose mythology bleeds into the lives of its viewers — descends directly from Laura Palmer's doubled world, and Schoenbrun's use of static, red light and dreamlike interludes echoes Lynch's grammar.
• Influencia Obscura · Marble Hornets by Troy Wagner and Joseph DeLage (2009). The YouTube Slender Man found-footage serial is the direct ancestor of We're All Going to the World's Fair: a teenager alone with a camera, uploading entries into a creepypasta ARG until the fiction consumes them. Schoenbrun had already spent years immersed in this world, making a documentary about Slender Man culture, and the film's webcam framing, bedroom lighting and comment-section intimacy come straight out of that amateur horror ecosystem.
• Local Roots · The People's Joker by Vera Drew (2022). Drew's copyright-defying trans coming-of-age comedy emerged from the same American DIY underground Schoenbrun cultivated, and the two have been publicly supportive peers through the festival gauntlet that both films survived. Shared instincts: corporate pop-culture iconography repurposed as egg-cracking autobiography, and a refusal to separate fandom from self-invention. Both arrived as landmark trans-authored genre work in the same cycle.
• Beyond the Medium · Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins (1995). Schoenbrun's films are saturated with 1990s alternative rock as emotional architecture — the overwhelming, theatrical teenage sadness of Corgan's double album is a stated touchstone, and I Saw the TV Glow is structured almost as an album, with needle-drops and a full concert sequence standing in for plot. The music supplies what dialogue withholds: an adolescent interiority too big and too embarrassing to say out loud.
• Peer · Nowhere by Gregg Araki (1997). Araki's Teen Apocalypse films are the obvious forebear and continuing peer presence: saturated candy colors, suburban alienation, shoegaze and industrial soundtracks, queer teenagers for whom the end of the world and puberty are the same event. Schoenbrun's palette in I Saw the TV Glow — chalky pinks and sickly greens against black suburban night — sits squarely in the New Queer Cinema lineage Araki helped establish.
• From the Canon · We're All Going to the World's Fair by Jane Schoenbrun (2021). The first feature establishes the whole method: a teenager in an attic bedroom, a webcam, an online horror challenge, and an ambiguity about whether transformation is happening or being willed into being. Shot on a microbudget and built from screen-capture textures, it reframes creepypasta ritual as a dysphoria allegory, and its Anna Cobb performance set the register of guarded, aching self-documentation that Schoenbrun's later work expands.
• Key Collaborator · House of Sugar by Alex G (2019). Alex Giannascoli scored We're All Going to the World's Fair, and his warped, home-recorded songcraft — pitch-shifted vocals, lo-fi warmth curdling into unease — is tonally inseparable from the film's bedroom dread. House of Sugar is the fullest statement of that sensibility: folk melodies run through digital decay, exactly the sound of a person mediated by a machine, which is Schoenbrun's subject in both of their features.
• Legacy · Summer Solstice by Noah Schamus (2024). Part of the wave of American independent features by trans filmmakers that Schoenbrun's festival success helped make commercially legible, Schamus's road-trip two-hander works the same territory of friendship strained by transition and the gap between who a person was watched being and who they are. The distribution and festival paths these films travel were materially widened by I Saw the TV Glow's breakout.

What influenced Jane Schoenbrun

• David Cronenberg (1943). This establishes a critical comparison, not a stated causal influence. “Critics have compared Schoenbrun's work to that of David Cronenberg and Kiyoshi Kurosawa in dealing with interactions between the human body and technology.” (Wikipedia)
• Black Hole by Charles Burns. Schoenbrun was named to write and direct a television adaptation of Burns's graphic novel. “Netflix ordered a straight-to-series adaptation of Charles Burns ' graphic novel Black Hole , with Schoenbrun writing and directing.” (Wikipedia)
• Kiyoshi Kurosawa. This establishes a critical comparison, not a stated causal influence. “Critics have compared Schoenbrun's work to that of David Cronenberg and Kiyoshi Kurosawa in dealing with interactions between the human body and technology.” (Wikipedia)
• If Every Girl Had a Diary by Sadie Benning (1990). If Every Girl Had a Diary (Sadie Benning) — ghost for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (The Smashing Pumpkins) — culture for Jane Schoenbrun (musicbrainz.org)
• Are You Afraid of the Dark? by D. J. MacHale (1990). Are You Afraid of the Dark? (D. J. MacHale) — titan for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• Whipping Girl by Julia Serano (2007). Whipping Girl (Julia Serano) — culture for Jane Schoenbrun (openlibrary.org)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Joss Whedon (1997). Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Joss Whedon) — titan for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me by David Lynch (1992). Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch) — titan for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• Broken by Nine Inch Nails and Peter Christopherson (1993). Broken (Nine Inch Nails and Peter Christopherson) — ghost for Jane Schoenbrun
• Marble Hornets by Troy Wagner and Joseph DeLage (2009). Marble Hornets (Troy Wagner and Joseph DeLage) — ghost for Jane Schoenbrun
• Slender Man by Eric Knudsen (2009). Slender Man (Eric Knudsen) — culture for Jane Schoenbrun

Peers and kindred spirits

• Tux and Fanny. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer. “2019 Chained for Life … Producer 2019 Tux and Fanny … Executive Producer 2019 Total Body Removal Surgery … Executive Producer” (The Movie Database)
• Dick Pics! (A Documentary). The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer. “2019 Dick Pics! (A Documentary) … Executive Producer 2019 Laying Out … Executive Producer” (The Movie Database)
• Black Soil, Green Grass. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer. “2016 Beemus, It'll End in Tears … Executive Producer 2016 Black Soil, Green Grass … Executive Producer 2016 Swallowed … Executive Producer” (The Movie Database)
• Dream Team. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer. “The satirical comedy-slash-sci-fi film is produced by Kalman, Horn, Sarah Winshall, Pierce Varous, and Jane Schoenbrun.” (IndieWire, via Yahoo)
• Lovewatch. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an associate producer. “2018 A Self-Induced Hallucination … Producer 2017 Lovewatch … Associate Producer 2016 Collective: Unconscious … Executive Producer” (The Movie Database)
• Gwilliam's Tips For Turning Tricks Into Treats. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer. “2018 Gwilliam's Tips For Turning Tricks Into Treats … Executive Producer 2018 The Eyeslicer: Halloween Special … Executive Producer” (The Movie Database)
• The Starr Sisters. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer. “The Starr Sisters Executive Producer 2020 1 ( 0 ) Chained for Life Actor, Frantic Producer, Producer 2019” (AllMovie)
• Pots N' Tots. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer. “2019 The Starr Sisters … Executive Producer 2019 Pots N' Tots … Executive Producer 2019 Chained for Life … Producer” (The Movie Database)
• Girl Internet Show: A Kati Kelli Mixtape. The work appears in Schoenbrun's producer filmography. “This hand-made mixtape from Jane Schoenbrun (I SAW THE TV GLOW) and Jordan Wippell features a lovingly curated selection of Kelli’s online work, unreleased videos, and TOTAL BODY REMOVAL SURGERY—her first (and final) short film opus.” (American Genre Film Archive)
• Swallowed. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer. “2016 Black Soil, Green Grass … Executive Producer 2016 Swallowed … Executive Producer 2016 Everybody Dies! … Executive Producer” (The Movie Database)
• Chained for Life. Chained for Life appears in Schoenbrun's producer filmography. “Chained for Life Actor, Frantic Producer, Producer 2019 3 ( 0 ) Big Brother Volcano Writer 2018” (AllMovie)
• Gillian Anderson. Gillian Anderson stars in Schoenbrun's film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. “The film was produced by Mubi and Plan B Entertainment . Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson star in the film.” (Wikipedia)
• Safdie brothers. Schoenbrun worked on short films made by the Safdie brothers. “While in college, Schoenbrun worked as a production assistant on short films by the Safdie brothers .” (Wikipedia)
• Anna Cobb. Anna Cobb played Casey in Schoenbrun's film We're All Going to the World's Fair. “The film follows the story of a teenage girl named Casey, portrayed by Anna Cobb, who joins an " occult online game"” (Wikipedia)
• Laying Out. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer. “2019 Dick Pics! (A Documentary) … Executive Producer 2019 Laying Out … Executive Producer” (The Movie Database)
• Lucy Dacus (1995). Schoenbrun's filmography lists a music video for Lucy Dacus's Night Shift. “Music video Year Song Artist Ref. 2023 " Night Shift " Lucy Dacus [ 48 ] Reception” (Wikipedia)
• Speechless. The filmography credits Schoenbrun as a co-producer of Speechless. “Producer Year Title Notes 2012 Speechless Co-producer 2016 Black Soil, Green Grass Executive producer” (Wikipedia)
• Hannah Einbinder. Hannah Einbinder stars in Schoenbrun's film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. “The film was produced by Mubi and Plan B Entertainment . Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson star in the film.” (Wikipedia)
• Collective: Unconscious. AllMovie credits Schoenbrun as an executive producer and writer of Collective: Unconscious. “Collective: Unconscious Executive Producer, Writer 2016 1 ( 0 )” (AllMovie)
• Madison by Sloppy Jane (2021). Madison (Sloppy Jane) — collaborator for Jane Schoenbrun (musicbrainz.org)
• Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers. Punisher (Phoebe Bridgers) — collaborator for Jane Schoenbrun (musicbrainz.org)
• Skinamarink by Kyle Edward Ball (2022). Skinamarink (Kyle Edward Ball) — peer for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• Personal Shopper by Olivier Assayas (2016). Personal Shopper (Olivier Assayas) — peer for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• House of Sugar by Alex G (2019). House of Sugar (Alex G) — collaborator for Jane Schoenbrun (musicbrainz.org)
• Nowhere by Gregg Araki (1997). Nowhere (Gregg Araki) — peer for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• The People's Joker by Vera Drew (2022). The People's Joker (Vera Drew) — geography for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• Stress Positions by Theda Hammel (2024). Stress Positions (Theda Hammel) — geography for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• Madeline's Madeline by Josephine Decker (2018). Madeline's Madeline (Josephine Decker) — geography for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• Jack Haven. Jack Haven starred in Schoenbrun's film I Saw the TV Glow.
• Justice Smith. Justice Smith starred in Schoenbrun's film I Saw the TV Glow.

Who Jane Schoenbrun influenced

• Problemista by Julio Torres (2023). Problemista (Julio Torres) — legacy for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)
• Summer Solstice by Noah Schamus (2024). Summer Solstice (Noah Schamus) — legacy for Jane Schoenbrun (themoviedb.org)