Now Available to rent on Amazon, Apple, Google Play
Director: Matt Spicer
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Wyatt Russell
Avocado toast, farmer’s markets, top knots, pop art, calling wine “Vino”, boutique hotels, Burning Man, Joan Didion, Mancrushes, pronouncing “bye” like Byeeeeeeeeee. And Instagram. Ingrid Goes West knows the Californian, vacuous white-people world very well. Movies about social media usually feel immediately dated as soon as they are made – This movie, however, feels much more real with the specificity of its caustic jabs.
The movie starts with Ingrid (Plaza) scrolling through meticulously staged wedding photos and videos on Instagram, on the outside of this event, and sobbing uncontrollably. Our introduction to our main character has her invading this meticulous wedding, only to yell at the bride “Thanks for inviting me, you fucking c*nt” and then pepper spraying her in the face. Harsh.
She does a stint in a mental institution before restarting her cycle anew out West, using some money her mother left her after she passed away, and after finding a new Instagram obsession – Taylor, or “_welltaylored_” (Olsen). When she arrives, we’re introduced to Daniel Pinto (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) an aspiring landlord and aspiring screenwriter, but most of all, a Batman obsessive. It’s not long before Ingrid starts stalking Taylor and ingratiating herself into the life of her and her rustic semi-painter husband Ezra (Wyatt Russell). Ezra’s art is great too – “found” paintings from Goodwill that he paints “#SQUADGOALS” onto. The whole scheme starts when she kidnaps their dog and magically comes to their rescue, after cartoonishly hiding behind trees to observe the perfect couple. Ingrid devours Taylor’s social media content by eating the meal she posts, getting her same haircut (or chop, as she calls it), reading the same book (that Taylor doesn’t actually read), and so on. Things, as they often do, escalate into more awkwardness, churning of the stomach, and kidnapping.
As far as the performances go, Plaza as Ingrid is again great being unhinged – instead of the gleeful craze of her Legion antagonist, she’s more broken and desperate. Her mania and obsession with these Instagram role models is fueled by her mental imbalance. She’s messed up but she still pretty fun, in a voyeuristic kind of way. Elizabeth Olsen is just plain great as the perfect but actually flawed Taylor – you can understand why her life is so superficially intoxicating for Ingrid. And I just can’t believe this is only the second movie for O’Shea Jackson Jr. after Straight Outta Compton – he is fun in the movie. Pinto is on to Ingrid’s true nature early on, and his obsession with Batman is a thread throughout the whole movie. After a betrayal from Ingrid, he tells her “I thought you were Catwoman, but you turned out to be Two Face” in an earnest but hilarious scene.
Later on in the movie, Taylor’s brother Nicky (Billy Magnussen) shows up and is a glorious bundle of manic energy (fueled by cocaine, or what Nicky calls “nose beers”). His character is the sort of roundabout who sees through Ingrid and goes to some very dark places while still dancing shirtless with jean shorts to songs he just fucking loves. The movie is that in short – very dark stuff paired with some really biting comedy.
Another part of the movie I found interesting was the depiction of Instagram posts in a dramatic fashion. I think I’ve seen this before in other movies, but rolling through her feed, Ken Burns style through Instagram while the actor or actress speaks the caption and hashtags – the effect is pretty funny. This more than anything cuts through the heart of social media obsession when it’s out loud, sounding pretty damn silly. Taylor narrates a photo, saying out loud “hashtag blessed, twin ladies Emoji” – immediately followed by Ingrid crying for how happy she is and literally framing the post in a picture frame. The satire is fun, but it’s also reductive – making fun of artifice in its many forms is always fair, but the movie takes a poke of a different kind in the ending, which I don’t know if it lands as well. It skewers this obsession, but still treats the obsessives seriously enough, and follows through with a matching ending. It’s not a perfect balance sometimes and the movie doesn’t land every bit of satire it sets up, but it’s interesting see for the performances in this uniquely voiced film.
Is it Watchlist-worthy? #Yes #ALittleUneven #PlazaForTheWin #I’mSorryI’mDone #NoMoreHighConceptSummaries
