Ingrid Goes West (2017)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Ingrid Goes West (2017) – M. Spicer

I guess I rarely watch any movies that are so relentlessly modern – the plot is really about the kinds of obsession that social media can create and the new job of “influencer” (though not named as such here).  Aubrey Plaza plays Ingrid who desperately wants to be liked/loved by the in crowd who portray themselves as being perfect on Instagram.  After her mother dies and she spends a few months institutionalised, Ingrid heads to Cali (with a sizeable, although not inexhaustible, inheritance) after fixating on one particular influencer, Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), who is a rather stereotypic yuppie millennial.  Yes, Ingrid is a stalker.  As such, it is never quite clear whether the film is supposed to be a comedy or not (I take it that Plaza got her break via comedy TV) – if so, it is so black as to be indistinguishable from an anxiety-provoking drama seen from the damaged stalker’s point of view.  You do feel sympathy for Ingrid, despite all of the terrible things she does, perhaps because they are recognised to stem from some deep-seated insecurities. Of course, the film wants to make the larger point that social media is full of put-ons and people portraying themselves as different & better than they really are – which has the unintended consequence of making the weaker among us feel worse as a result of social comparisons with the illusions.  Watching Ingrid try to insinuate herself into the SoCal crowd where she doesn’t fit/belong is painful, so watch this if that’s your idea of fun!  Although the film is damning of social media, a brief afterthought about the positive effects of these communities is too little, too late.