Ingrid Goes West (2017)

An unhinged social media stalker moves to LA and insinuates herself into the life of an Instagram star.

Director:

Matt Spicer

Writers:

David Branson Smith, Matt Spicer

Stars:

Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O'Shea Jackson Jr.

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aubrey Plaza	...	Ingrid Thorburn
Elizabeth Olsen	...	Taylor Sloane
O'Shea Jackson Jr.	...	Dan Pinto
Wyatt Russell	...	Ezra O'Keefe
Billy Magnussen	...	Nicky Sloane
Pom Klementieff	...	Harley Chung
Hannah Pearl Utt	...	Nicole (as Hannah Utt)
Joseph Breen	...	Garth Lafayette
Angelica Amor	...	Cindy
Meredith Hagner	...	Charlotte (as Meredith Kathleen Hagner)
Charlie Wright	...	Chuck
Dennis Atlas	...	Buck
Malika Williams	...	Nurse
Luis Deveze	...	Mechanic
Jay Speedy Weingarten	...	Waiter (as Jason Weingarten)

Storyline

Ingrid Thorburn is an unhinged social media stalker with a history of confusing "likes" for meaningful relationships. Taylor Sloane is an Instagram-famous "influencer" whose perfectly curated, boho-chic lifestyle becomes Ingrid's latest obsession. When Ingrid moves to LA and manages to insinuate herself into the social media star's life, their relationship quickly goes from #BFF to #WTF.

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Plot Keywords:

instagram | defecation | sitting on the toilet | harassment | hashtag | 

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Taglines:

She'll Follow You

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout, drug use, some sexual content and disturbing behavior

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Page

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ingrid Batiya Gidiyor

Filming Locations:

Four Aces Movie Ranch - 14499 E Ave Q, Palmdale, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$135,301, 13 August 2017, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,024,308, 26 October 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Star Thrower Entertainment,Mighty Engine,141 Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The short film "Hi Stranger (2016)" was attached to this film in the United States/Canada by distributor Neon.

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Goofs

Instagram does not make a click sound when a user likes a photo.

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Quotes

Ingrid Thorburn: Talk about something cool, like food or clothes or Joan Didion!

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Connections

References Catwoman (2004)

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Soundtracks

Attack of the Name Game
Written by Lincoln Chase, Jeffrey Cohen (as Jeffrey E Cohen), Shirley Ellis (as Shirley Elliston) & Narada Michael Walden
Performed by Stacy Lattisaw
Published by See No Evil obo When Words Collide, Gratitude Sky Music, WB Music Corp, Embassy Music Corp. & EMI Al Gallico Music Corp.
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By arrangement with Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

The Actors Carry This Complicated Social Media Satire

Aubrey Plaza has a knack for choosing the right small, just off the radar indie projects. In the past, she starred in overlooked gems such as, The To Do List, Safety Not Guaranteed and The Little Hours, which came out earlier this year. Ingrid Goes West is her most recent indie gem, and perhaps her best.

Ingrid Goes West features Plaza as Ingrid (duh!), who has some umm… let's call them social issues. She equates passing interactions on social media as meaningful friendships. These virtual relationships quickly turn into real obsessions.

Her latest target is a California Insta-girl named Taylor (played by Elizabeth Olsen, whose stock is rising rapidly of late), who responded to one of Ingrid's carefully thought out comments on her latest food photo. Taylor's winking advice to "check it out next time you're in LA" is all the incentive Ingrid needs. She grabs her backpack full of newly-received cash (no spoilers on how she got the money) and headed west to spy on Taylor/become friends with Taylor.

Through some mild stalking and other questionable behavior, Ingrid becomes fast friends with Taylor. Desperate to win and retain Taylor's affection through any means necessary, Ingrid takes advantage of her overly trusting landlord/next-door neighbor and Batman superfan, Dan (played by O'Shea Jackson Jr. who is about one more praiseworthy performance away from breaking free from people calling him "Ice Cube's son" and just calling him O'Shea Jackson Jr.) At first, Ingrid pays little attention to Dan unless she needs something from him. But he soon shows her that he's the only one that truly likes her for who she really is. It's the most heartfelt moment in a movie that often hides behind its humor.

Of course, with Ingrid things cannot remain rosy for long. She's a tornado of dysfunction and terrible decision making. Her dream world unravels and in the end the audience is faced with a rather confusing message about the value and dangers of social media.

The movie's stars make everything work. Give credit to first-time director Matt Spicer too, but it's hard to imagine pulling off this level of emotional vacillation with any other group of actors.

Especially in the opening 20 minutes or so, each passing moment evokes a new emotion so rapidly and seemingly randomly that it's almost as if Spicer was tossing dice and choosing a different emotion based on the roll. We dart between heartbreaking, heartwarming, hilarious, and shakily anxious. This is not a comfortable viewing experience.

We catch of glimpse of Ingrid's humanity early on and she remains empathetic throughout despite behaving in mostly distasteful ways. Plaza deserves commendation for her performance, which is both nuanced and unhinged.

Ultimately, Dan reigns as the most likable character, even if he may be the most naïve. In a story of full of phonies, he always stays true to himself. That has got to count for something.