Disturbing and jet black hilarious, INGRID GOES WEST introduces you to the very darkest effects of our social media obsessed culture.
Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation, Legion) is our title character, deep in trouble for allowing her online obsession with an internet celeb fester into a physical attack.
She's fresh out of a mental hospital, medicated and shaped into a more stable Ingrid. Or is she?
She soon finds a new online target of obsession, Taylor Sloane. Full of style and living a picture-perfect lifestyle, Taylor has every outfit, purse and food choice needed to drive cultural taste. Taylor is played well by Elizabeth Olson (The Avengers, Godzilla).
Ingrid decides to take her recent inheritance and move west to California, slowly immersing herself into Taylor's circle all Vertigo/Single White Female style.
The journey from there takes plenty of unexpected and enjoyable turns. Taylor's circle is rich with intriguing people, including her crazy brother Nicky (Billy Magnussen memorable as Kato Kaelin in "American Crime Story"), Ingrid's roommate Dan (O'Shea Jackson from "Straight Out of Compton") and Pom Kiementieff (Guardians of the Galaxy) as a famous model.
Wyatt Russell (Everybody Wants Some) is also very good as Taylor's brother Ezra. He's a struggling artist who's looking for something more physical and tangible than the norm in today's world. His quiet moments with Ingrid are some of the film's best.
Far from a typical comedy, INGRID is a fast ride, touching on mental illness, superficial connections and the way we all relate in the present.
Plaza is terrific in her dramatic and comedic moments, bursting with socially awkward profanity and a dripping desperation to connect. Olsen matches her.
The ending moments ring a bit pedestrian after the unique path that we've taken to get there, but the destination seems fitting the more you analyze it. Where else could it go?
Writer/Director Matt Spicer is one to watch.
He's certainly got my attention.
Just make sure you don't get Ingrid's. The moment she follows you, your troubles are just getting started.
This challenging journey west gets a B.
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