Ingrid Goes West (2017) - 💎 💎 💎

(May Contain Spoilers)

An Oddly Enjoyable Take on Social Media Stalkers. 

Matt Spicer’s portrayal of narcissism is hard to bear at times, questioning the role that social media plays in our daily lives and the extent we will go to be liked. How much time do you spend on social media a day? An hour, less, more? Well, Ingrid’s phone is present in most scenes, either taking pictures of food or scrolling through millions of photos double tapping. I think most people can relate to Ingrid in some way, trying to be someone they aren’t on social media or in person and wanting to be liked, I see as a universal need. I like the flow and pacing of the film, the performances are sublime, and the writing is thought-provoking, which is why I gave it 3 jewels. However, I question though the ending of the film. Ingrid tries to take her own life and after waking up in hospital she hears the news that her story went viral, she smiles as if this is what she wanted, realising to get to this point all she needed to do was to try and kill herself! Maybe that was Spicer’s intention, but despite this, I felt this film is a disturbing reflection of society’s addiction of social media and the care we should take. 

Unhinged social media addict, Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) is first seen scrolling through Instagram, streaming with tears watching videos of Charlotte’s (Meredith Kathleen Hagner) wedding. Wiping away her tears, Ingrid gets out the car and storms towards the event, walks straight up to Charlotte and sprays mace in her face with an unsettling smile, “Congratulations!” The next sequence sees Ingrid submitted to a mental institution to get help, as the woman she assaulted, was someone Ingrid stalked on Instagram mistaking photos likes for genuine friendship connection.

After Ingrid is released from the mental institution, she goes back to an empty house owned by her recently passed mother. Seen lying on her mother’s death bed, Ingrid goes straight back on her phone, scrolling and double tapping EVERY POST! Whilst reading a magazine in the bath, Ingrid discovers a new and upcoming Instagram influencer Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). Shortly after commenting on Taylor’s post, Ingrid receives a reply from the idol and makes the rapid decision to withdraw all her mother’s inheritance and move to Taylor’s hometown in Los Angles, where Ingrid rents a small place from Dan (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who later becomes her boyfriend.

Ingrid works on a plan to befriend Taylor, stalking places she has posted on Instagram in an attempt to bump into her, whilst doing this Ingrid builds up her Instagram feed with copy-cat posts under the new handle @ingridgoeswest. Ingrid spots Taylor in a jewellery store and follows her back to her house, once Taylor goes out Ingrid steals her dog, which she later returns the dog to Taylor and they begin a ‘real’ friendship. Now firmly in Taylor’s friendship group, Ingrid helps Taylor move a caravan to her new place in the desert, where they get drunk and share secrets. Later Taylors brother Nicky (Billy Magnussen) comes to visit and causes conflict between the two girls, he takes Ingrid’s phone and threatens to exposure her to Taylor. Ingrid makes things worse by enlisting the help of Dan to kidnap Nicky, but it ends up backfiring so Ingrid knocks Nicky out cold and leaves him for dead in the desert. 

Ingrid’s friendship with Taylor comes to an abrupt and sour end, ignoring Ingrid’s persistent voicemail messages. Deranged and low on money, Ingrid buys the house next door to Taylor, spying on her from a distance, but becomes bankrupts and only can afford toilet roll or beer (she chooses the beer). It comes to Halloween and Taylor is having a party, Ingrid puts a sheet over her head and goes over and use their electricity to charge her phone. The sheet is torn off her body and her face is revealed. Taylor grants Ingrid a 5-minute conversation to hear her out, but they fight about they are fake, and their friendship was all a lie This leads Ingrid to disappear as she attempts to take her own life. Ingrid creates a video, surrounded by poetically lit candles, tears flooding down her face as she records a suicide video. Finally, Ingrid wakes up in hospital, balloons and get-well-soon cards around her from several Instagram follows. The film ends on Ingrid’s reaction as Dan tells her she has gone viral with the hashtag #iamingrid. Ingrid stares into her phone hard to contain her smile.