Ingrid Goes West

Dir: Matt Spicer

2017

****

Matt Spicer and David Branson Smith’s 2017 comedy Ingrid Goes West is a delicious little dark comedy that is all the better for it’s subtlety. The story’s conclusion is about as troubling as it gets, and yet, it feels like a happy ending and that our protagonist has finally succeeded in doing something positive when the opposite is true. A true test of our society and the the type of people the film is dealing with would be to know just how many of them understood it and recognised it as a satire. If the youth of today understand Ingrid Goes West then maybe satire isn’t dead after all. I’ve seen Aubrey Plaza in a few films now – and I have always liked her – but here she really proves herself worthy of playing a leading character. She carries the film, every other character – although all played well – are easy, while her’s clearly wasn’t a walk in the park to get right. She convinced me that she was a functioning girl with a mental illness, something that is almost always treated badly in Hollywood. The mentally ill are pretty much always either depicted as dribbling loons in straight jackets or wide-eyed potential murderers who live next door. Plaza’s Ingrid had a desperation about her, she’s actually no different than characters seen in films such as The Devil Wears Prada or Confessions of a Shopaholic – characters with clear mental health issues which are never addressed. Ingrid’s illness is far more interesting here as it is believable and connected with modern society and the generation known as the millennials. Now I don’t like labeling people (it’s a Generation X thing), but the Instagram gang are a worrying bunch who seem to think they’re part of a movement, when they are in fact consumers buying into a corporate entity. Taking a picture of one’s self is nothing new but it has turned into something disturbingly self-centred and now the awkward teenager has been replaced with the ultra-confident, over-enthusiastic, self-loving, self-serving narcissists. Ingrid just wants to be loved, and yet she is the mentally ill one. Although she certainly isn’t without her faults. The story begins with Ingrid discovering on Instagram that an unrequited friend of hers named Charlotte did not invite her to her wedding. Ingrid races over there and crashes the reception and pepper sprays her in the face and calls her a c-word for not inviting her. It’s one hell of an introduction. She then undergoes treatment and has a brief stay at a mental hospital. She certainly seems better. With her mother now dead, no job and living in a big empty house, Ingrid becomes bored. Ingrid then learns of a social media influencer named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen) while reading a magazine article. Beguiled by her seemingly perfect life, Ingrid comments on one of her photographs and receives a slight response from Sloane. With an inheritance of over $60,000 from her deceased mother, Ingrid decides to move to Los Angeles to become friends with Taylor. Upon arrival, she rents a house in Venice from Dan Pinto (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), an aspiring screenwriter with an obsession for Batman Forever. She visits Taylor's regular hangouts and restaurants, and gets a makeover in her style.Then, after randomly running into Taylor at one of her favorite book stores, Ingrid follows her to her house and kidnaps her dog Rothko. She returns Rothko to Taylor the next day, officially meeting her and her husband Ezra. Ingrid accepts their offer to stay for dinner, where they become acquainted. The next day, Ingrid borrows Dan's truck to help Taylor move some items to her home in Joshua Tree (the same location where they filmed the terrible The Howling: New Moon werewolf fans!). Later that night, Taylor reveals she wants to buy a small house in Joshua Tree and convert it into a boutique hotel. Soon after, Ingrid damages Dan's truck while driving under the influence. She returns late, causing Dan to miss a table read of his screenplay. Ingrid promises to reimburse him and take him out to dinner. Later that night, after bonding over their past losses, the two have sex and begin a relationship. The next day at Taylor and Ezra's house, Ingrid meets Taylor's brother Nicky, a recovering drug addict. Taylor dismisses her previous plans with Ingrid to attend a party with Nicky, furthering Ingrid's disdain for him. Later, at a get-together at fashion blogger Harley Chung's (played by a silent Pom Klementieff) house, Ingrid becomes envious of Taylor and Harley's relationship. Ingrid also begins to realize that several aspects of Taylor's persona are fabricated. Nicky finds Ingrid's phone with incriminating photographs that reveal her obsession with Taylor. He blackmails her, in exchange for money. As retaliation, Ingrid devises a plan to feign domestic abuse and blame Nicky. Telling Dan that Nicky beat her, she begs him to not tell the police in fear of what Nicky may do to him; she instead convinces him to kidnap and terrorize Nicky to keep him quiet. Nicky escapes his bindings and attacks Dan, leading Ingrid to attack Nicky with a crowbar. After Dan is hospitalized, Ingrid tries to call Taylor, but Ezra answers and tells Ingrid that Nicky has told them what happened. He relates that Taylor does not want to hear from Ingrid again and that she would have been arrested if Nicky had not been trying to hide his own crimes. Desperate, Ingrid moves into the small house next door to Taylor – the one she so desperately wanted to buy for herself - using the last of her inheritance. Unable to pay the bills, she eventually loses power at the house. After noticing a nearby Halloween party at Taylor's house, she dons a bed sheet and wig and crashes the party to charge her cellphone. When discovered, Ingrid berates Nicky, Ezra, and Taylor. Taylor responds by saying that because of her façade, the two were never truly friends, and suggests Ingrid seeks professional help. Bereft, Ingrid retreats to her home surrounded by lit candles and records a video for her Instagram page, confessing her loneliness before overdosing on pills. Ingrid survives the suicide attempt because Dan saw her video and called emergency services. She wakes in the hospital to learn that her video has gone viral, and thousands of strangers have responded to her hashtag #iamingrid to show support. Feeling loved, Ingrid smiles, leaving the audience with a feeling of joy that she survived and an awkward feeling of elation because she has suddenly got everything she’s always wanted but also feeling disturbed by the fact that what led to her suicide in the first place isn’t addressed and her illness will only be fueled more. It’s the perfect depiction of how a lot of social media works and the people who use it more than they should. It’s a dark comedy but there is also something quite profound about it. Social media might not be your thing but Ingrid and her situation raises many ethical questions about society in general, how people are treated and what people desire. Everyone wants to be loved, but is it harder these days to build meaningful relationships or are we all just fairweather friends? Is everything now virtual rather than real? It’s a question that isn’t pushed but rather teased into the story. I think you get as much out of the film as you allow yourself to but the conclusion is far from open to interpretation, it is wonderful, dark and deliciously disturbing.