Ingrid Goes West

One thing I do like getting involved in the movie watching community is that I discover movies that usually I would have no interest in at all. The only reason I wanted to watch Ingrid Goes West was because someone on a Youtube video said it was a really underrated film of 2017 and if this person, who's opinion in movies I respect, liked it, I thought I might like it too.

Ingrid Goes West is another movie similar to Colossal (both on Hulu) where not a lot of people heard of it or saw it when it came out but it really is an underrated film.

 Ingrid Goes West follows the titular character Ingrid (played by Aubrey Plaza). From the beginning we know two things about Ingrid. We know she ends up in a behavioral health ward for assaulting a girl she followed obsessively on Instagram, and we know that her mother died sometime before the start of the movie.

Beyond that, we don't know a whole lot about Ingrid. She is obsessed with Instagram and she has this ideal person that she wants to be, but in reality she drinks cheap beer, eats horribly, and isn't the people she idolizes on Instagram. This becomes important later in the film, but the plot really starts when she starts following a woman on Instagram who makes a living off of just taking pictures of stuff and posting it. Ingrid becomes obsessed with this woman named Taylor Sloane (played by Elizabeth Olsen) and while the obsession does take a few baby steps before blowing up into course of action that are on par with any horror film stalker, they get there and you get a really uncomfortable but entertaining film.

Ingrid moves to California and basically inserts herself into Taylor's life. And she does it very craftily. Sure there are parts that she's awkward about it and she doesn't do it exactly smoothly, but she is willing to do almost anything to become Taylor's friend and it's really weird.

But the movie is really becomes the underrated film people online talk about because it is so weird. On one hand, you have this really unsettling woman who we know from the beginning is unstable and will go to uncomfortable lengths if she doesn't complete her goal or she doesn't earn the friendship of the people she follows, but at the same time you have a woman who is clearly going through some emotional issues and just wants to fit in and be loved. The film is a weird juxtaposition of those feelings because you're not sure if you should feel bad for Ingrid or if she's going to become a Batman villain.

Speaking of Batman, her landlord is played by O'Shea Jackson Jr and for some reason his only real character trait is that he's obsessed with Batman. While I'm not wild about his character in general, I think Jackson gives a good performance along with everybody in this film. I've heard that Aubrey Plaza has done a lot of indie films and she has made a little bit of a name for herself beyond being April Ludgate from Parks and Rec. She does a really good job in this film and like I said, the dynamic of being scared of this woman and being sympathetic towards her only works with her performance.

Elizabeth Olsen's character is really fascinating because on one hand, she's the "victim" in all of this. She's the one being stalked and she's kind of the one you're worried Ingrid is going to attack if things go wrong. But at the same time, Taylor is a narcissistic and really the worst kind of person, especially if you hate people who are WAY too into their Instagram.

Wyatt Russell, who starred in one of my favorite Black Mirror episodes plays Taylor's husband, and Billy Magnussen plays Taylor's brother Nicky. They both give a pretty good performance. Magnussen plays the coked out brother and above all you just kind of hate him, but you love to hate him.

If I had to pick a weak link, it would either be Russell or O'Shea Jackson Jr, more because their characters aren't written as well, but that's not to say they both didn't do a good job.

 I have to agree with the people who say this movie is really one of the more underrated films of 2017. It's not just a drama about Instagram, it will kind of mess with you and that's because a lot of it has the feel of a psychological thriller.

The other thing to know about this film is that it is a little bit of a comedy. You're allowed to laugh at the dark humor and it is pretty funny at times.

My only complaints would be about the characters that maybe don't get as much development as others, and how extreme things get very quickly. If you know anything about story structure, you can guess where this ends up and I think the movie kind of takes a middle ground of going to an extreme and keeping the characters likable. I don't want to spoil the end of the film because it is decent, but if you watch it you might understand. I don't think it's a bad ending, I just don't know if it really has the impact this movie was building up to.

But overall, I do agree, Ingrid Goes West is a dramatically underrated film and if you have Hulu you should definitely invest the 90 minutes for this film because it will be worth it. Be prepared to be disturbed but at the same time laugh and have a decent time. It will also make you rethink your entire existence on social media... so that's fun.

But those are my thoughts on Ingrid Goes West. Did you see this one? What did you think of it? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks and see you next time.