The flashing lights of Hollywood make becoming a celebrity very enticing… What happens though, when you become Instagram-famous and your secret stalker turns into your best friend? From dognapping scenes to avocado toasts and pool parties, Ingrid Goes West is the perfect film for a quick escape from the real world.
One of 2017s best and critically-acclaimed indie films, Ingrid Goes West, follows Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza), a social media stalker, crazy, attention seeking young adult in her quest to befriend California born and raised Instagram celebrity, Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen).
We follow along as Ingrid begins her journey from the midwest all the way to sunny Los Angeles, CA, in search of one thing: becoming #BFFS with Insta-star, Taylor. As Ingrid settles into her new West Coast lifestyle, she constantly copies anything Taylor posts on Instagram, including eating at the same chic LA joints, designing her apartment with the decor from the shops and antiquaries that Taylor often goes to, etc.
“Talk about something cool, like food or clothes or Joan Didion!” – Ingrid Thorburn
Obsessing to the point that Ingrid steals Taylor’s dog just so she can ‘find’ him and return him to his rightful owners Taylor and her husband Ezra, Ingrid finally succeeds and becomes friends with Taylor. She has an ‘in’ to Taylor’s life and the ability to stalk and obsess over Taylor, front and centre. I won’t give any of the good details away, because this is a genuinely fascinating movie to see for yourself.
Director Matt Spicer did an amazing job with the cast of this movie. O’Shea Jackson Jr. plays Dan Pinto, Ingrid’s LA landlord come new boyfriend later in the film (spoiler, oops!) and Elizabeth Olsen, plays Taylor Sloane, the successful, boho-chic Californian queen. These actors and actresses really played upon each others strengths in my opinion, and you could definitely see the ease of chemistry as they worked through the film together.
The chemistry made it incredibly believable and entertaining.
To see that Aubrey Plaza also produced the film alongside her on-screen acting was really refreshing. It was like seeing a film through her eyes directly and was great to see her thoughts and ideas come to life. Plaza plays her character to an unbelievable tee! She’s always done the kind of odd-ball, weirdo characters, but Ingrid is a whole new level of crazy and Plaza played it out beautifully. She is very convincing as an actress in any other form, but Ingrid as a character makes you forget that Plaza is normally her own separate person and that Ingrid is just that; a character.
There was a seamless transition between who you know Aubrey Plaza to be as herself, versus Ingrid’s morbid, obsessive, melodramatic film presence.
Overall, I was very pleased with this film. The music compilation and event sequence throughout the film kept me engaged and interested. The storyline was a perfect idea for the already social media obsessed world we live in, and what can happen if you maybe share a little bit too much online. It was a very well done film and if you haven’t seen it yet, I really urge you to when you get the chance.
