INGRID GOES WEST
US, 2017, 98 minutes, Colour.
Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O' Shea Jackson Jr, Wyatt Russell, Billy Magnusson, Pom Klementieff, Joseph Breen.
Directed by Matt Spicer.
Are you on Instagram? If so, you will identify immediately with this film? If not, after 97 minutes you may well (or not well) feel that you are actually on it? One wonders whether there is already a support group, Instagrammers Anonymous, for the addicted, whose life seem to depend on it. (And, on public transport, walking up and down the street, there seem to be plenty of candidates.)
Ingrid is a prime candidate. She is played most persuasively by Aubrey Plaza. At first we see her as a morbid young woman, mourning the death of her mother. She is on her phone and looking at a friend’s wedding to which she has not been invited – and promptly gatecrashe hello s the party, spraying the bride, being tackled and finishing up in an institution finding affirmation in group work.
Ingrid’s life is certainly going west in the sense of going downhill. But, some seeming salvation occurs with her finding a young woman, a star on Instagram, Taylor (a lively performance from Elizabeth Olsen). With $60,000 in cash that she has inherited from her mother, and finding that Taylor, a photographer, bright media personality, her opinions on contemporary living quoted in magazine articles, lives in Venice, California. So, Ingrid goes West.
If ever there was a film about emotional neediness, Ingrid Goes West is certainly it. Ingrid is extraordinarily needy, low self-image, unable to relate well to people. She tries to imitate Taylor, dyeing her hair and change its style mimicking tailors, going to the restaurants where Taylor is reported to have eaten, then encountering her, awkwardly, in a shop and having the bright idea of stealing her pet dog and responding to the lost dog advertisement by returning the pet. Taylor and her partner, Ezra (Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt and Goldie Hawn) welcome her and they become best friends.
Also in the act is Ingrid’s landlord, Dan (O’ Shea Jackson Jr, looking and sounding exactly like his father, O’ Shea Jackson Sr, whom we all know as Ice Cube). He is pretty needy as well but finds all his fulfilment in Batman, the comics, the films, even trying to write a screenplay, doing re-enactments….
Clearly, this is not an ordinary relationship story. Can it last? Well, given the bad foundation of the friendship, Ingrid and her deceits, her incessant taking of selfies, of herself and everything to do with Taylor, something has to come undone. The catalyst for this is Taylor’s brother, Nick (Billy Magnusson) a smooth-talking rogue who takes an instant dislike to Ingrid, making her intensely jealous.
If this film were to have a subtitle it could be #self. As it is, the film does end, rather unpredictably and not without pain, with Ingrid being given #iamingrid.
1. A contemporary story for younger audiences? Social media?
2. Ingrid’s world, initially at home, going to the wedding, in an institution, going to California, Venice, her apartment, the streets and shops, the trip to Joshua Tree, the clubs, the Halloween party? The musical score and songs?
3. The world of social media, Instagram, taking selfies, texting, the number of followers? Enclosing herself in the world of Instagram? Her outlet, her camera and phone? Growing addiction, the need for taking selfies, for a role model, sharing, the need for affirmation?
4. A film about needs and neediness, self-image, need for affirmation, not being a loser?
5. The visuals of the selfies, the texts, histogram?
6. Ingrid, her age, morbid, her mother’s death, grief, inheriting the money? Looking at her screen, the wedding, going to the wedding, intruding, spraying the bride, her being
tackled? The tone?
7. In the institution, the therapy, the group work, the affirmation, her leaving?
8. Discovering Taylor on Instagram? Taylor in herself, the photos, the articles, the quotations, the bright personality? Ingrid identifying with her, going to California, the scenes in Venice, the encounter with Dan, renting the apartment, his forbidding pets, her having Taylor’s dog? In the shop, her awkwardness, seeing Taylor? At the diner, missing the time, not liking the meal? Going to the house, seeing the dog, taking it, the phone call, the deal with Dan, returning the dog, not wanting any money, stay for dinner? Conversation with Taylor and with Ezra? The growing friendship? Her being fulfilled, the selfies, going to the bathroom? The issue of the truck, Dan lending it to her, the conditions, that should be Catwoman? Going to Joshua Tree, the truck, the drugs, staying? The accident on the way home, singing the song? Dan and the police?
9. Taylor, her character, personality, her origins, Her bond with Ezra, Ezra telling the story about her, always seeing the best? Her enthusiasm with Ingrid? Ezra as a painter, his paintings, Ingrid buying the painting, cash? Taylor and the selfies, her followers?
10. Ingrid, her followers, the messages to Charlotte?
11. Dan, his background, Batman, obsessions? Knowledge? Writing? Re-enactments? For Ingrid to be Catwoman?
12. Nick, the type, brother to Taylor, his staying, calling Ingrid Olga? Sneering? The party, the pool, the outings? Harley and the club? Ingrid rejected, the VIPs?
13. The party, Ingrid taking Dan, forbidding Batman, but meeting Nick and their hitting it off about Batman? Ingrid, being hurt, jealous of Nick? Jealous of Harley? Taylor and the secret about buying Taylor planning to buy the house, Ingrid telling Ezra the secret? Ingrid, the house, going to the agent, giving him the cash, going to the house, the electricity being cut off, regulations, her being miserable?
14. Nick and his taking Ingrid’s phone, his blackmail? Ingrid’s plan, Dan and the Batman situation, abducting Nick, the masks, the fight, the beach? Dan in hospital? The injuries to Nick?
15. Taylor and the cut-off, the effect on Ingrid, her phone calls, her language and self-pity? The Halloween party, talking with Taylor, Taylor rejecting her?
16. Going home, the suicide, photographing it?
17. Hospital, awakening, the affirmation, Dan present, his hospitalisation? The fans, the followers question? Her hashtag “I am Ingrid�? Her future?
