Three parts comically sad.
Four parts raw.
Two parts aesthetically pleasing.
Eight parts hitting the nail on the head.
A hundred parts incredibly well casted and acted.
Okay, Ingrid Goes West apparently has a lot of parts.
Back in August of 2017 when it was released, a big part of me wanted to see it immediately in theaters. I'm a sucker for Elizabeth Olsen, and an even bigger sucker for Aubrey Plaza, so putting the two of them together in a somewhat twisted looking movie about social media seemed like a no-brainer.
But I was nervous. I had watched the trailer about two dozen times, and build it up in my head and didn't want to be disappointed if it wasn't all I had made it up to be.
Fact, it did not disappoint.
At all.
The film wastes no time in showing you Ingrid Thorburn (Plaza), the main character's unhinged and obsessive personality, with the opening scene depicting her insanely stalking a girl's social media account, whom you later learn Thorburn has never even met.
When things don't work out so well with Thorburn's first "victim," she does what all basic white girls with no life on Instagram do - she finds someone new to obsess over and borderline worship. Her new god is Taylor Sloane (Olsen), an Insta-famous "influencer" from LA.
What follows is an absolute crazy train ride of almost perfect moments for Thorburn, almost real friendships, almost catastrophic consequences, and almost total breakdowns.
What hit me the hardest about Ingrid Goes West is its brutal clarity about the nature of our social media infatuation.
Not only do we see how destructive Ingrid's decisions are because of her Insta-mania, we also see the other side of things from Sloane's pretend-perfect life.
Sure, on Instagram, Sloane seems to have it all: A perfect, handsome husband; a perfect, care-free career; a perfect, unending supply of friends. But the longer Thorburn hangs around Sloane, the more we as a viewer see these perfect things come crashing down because no one, no matter how perfect their pictures, has a perfect life.
Or even a "normal" life.
What I loved the most about Ingrid Goes West is its uncomfortable honesty of how we sometimes can't see the actual good things right in front of us because we're distracted by "pretty" things.
There is a moment in the film where Thorburn meets an actual, genuine, if albeit messed up person named Dan Pinto (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) who, after some slight setbacks, seems to sincerely care about her and wants to be in her life. And for a few shining moments, Thorburn actually notices Pinto for exactly who he is and seems to actually want him in her life, too.
One of the sweetest (and also weirdest) moments in the whole film is during a date between Pinto and Thorburn where they are both honest to the point of embarrassment about who they really are. I say sweetest and weirdest because the best moment is oddly during foreplay when Thorburn dresses up as a sexy Catwoman and repeats the phrase, "Gotham needs you right now," before Pinto (who desperately wants to be Batman in his real life) and Thorburn hook up. While it may not sound like a particularly sweet scene, the moment is filled with raw honesty and desire to make another person happy despite how it may make you look silly.
Despite Thorburn's attraction to Pinto and desire to be in a real relationship with someone, the film leaves you with a very clear ending and message that "pretty" things often win over real things.
What I appreciated about Ingrid Goes West was its ability to show you things, but never spend too long in them, or never just handing you a perfectly wrapped package. There were definitely some things left up to the viewer to decide.
One of the best ways they did this was through Thorburn's mental state. While there are glimpses into her mental instability, even going so far as to show us near the beginning of the film that Thorburn spent time in a mental institution, the film never explicitly tells you that Thorburn is mentally unstable. Sure, you assume that something is going on to provoke such strong obsessions and reckless behavior, but the film in my opinion leaves it up to the viewer to decide if this girl needs to spend more time in a mental institute, or just delete her Instagram app.
Another way the film didn't paint you a complete picture was with Sloane's husband Ezra (Wyatt Russell). Writers David Branson Smith and Matt Spicer did an excellent job of showing you that Ezra and Sloane's relationship is not what it appears to be on Instagram, and even gave you a glimpse into Ezra's unhappiness and unease, but not linger on this. Yes, we needed to understand this in order to learn more about Sloane, but ultimately, Ezra's storyline is not what the movie is about, and the writers seemed to get this and know exactly how much they needed to share about his life.
As a writer myself, I know how difficult it is to only share the details necessary to the main story and not get off on a whole rabbit trail of side character's lives. Sure, it would be great if we could have 10 hour movies and 18 million page books that delve into 37 different character's lives, but realistically, you have to decide as a writer what is necessary for your plot, and what can remain a mystery to your reader. Smith and Spicer did a perfect job of this in Ezra's character.
Ingrid Goes West is certainly not for everyone. It is insanely quirky, ridiculously odd, radically over the top, and most assuredly does not tie a bow at the end and leave you with warm and fuzzy feelings. It has far too much cursing (IMDB states that there are 52 uses of the f word in the film), we see a naked butt or two, and it makes you want to delete all your social media accounts for fear you're addicted or for fear someone will stalk and hunt you down.
But the acting is on point (seriously, someone give Aubrey Plaza an award for her crazy eyes), the ultimate takeaway is something that society desperately needs to hear, the scenery and coloring is exactly what you want in a movie about LA, and did I mention Aubrey Plaza's wonderful crazy eyes?
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