Ingrid Goes West - Review

The digital, social media age is a strange time ripe with material for comedic moments. The satirical comedy that Ingrid Goes West provides is equal parts dark, disturbing, and terribly, hilariously accurate. While the main premise of the film is going for laughs, the clear undertones and deeper meanings represent a subtle horror film masquerading as the newest comedy.

Following the death of her mother and a series of self-inflicted setbacks, young Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) escapes a humdrum existence by moving out West to befriend her Instagram obsession, a Los Angeles socialite named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). After a quick bond is forged between these unlikeliest of buddies, the facade begins to crack in both women's lives -- with comically malicious results.

Ingrid Goes West is such a timely film and highly relevant, for better or worse. The entire plot is set to illustrate the crazed nature of Ingrid as this social media obsessed woman and what it does to her throughout the film. And in that way the film offers a lot of great commentary on the faux lives that social media portrays all laced with awkward laughs.

Much of what goes right with the film relies on Aubrey Plaza’s performance. The actress has been on a roll lately, though the character Ingrid doesn’t stray too far from her comfort zone, and delivers once again. Plaza uses her ability to appear off kilter in subtle ways that slowly become more explicit as the film progresses. Elizabeth Olsen is also fantastic, likeable in every facet, and perfectly suited for this particular role. O’Shea Jackson Jr. gets to show off in a role that isn’t just a younger version of his father and really shines as this weird Batman obsessed character.

Like said above, Ingrid Goes West really plays with satirical humor quite a bit throughout its runtime. It’s a lot of smart bits and clever jokes that play well amongst the larger scope of the modern stalking going on here. It’s almost too awkward or kind of sad in moments but then the comedy comes in to make the painstaking situation bearable. Ingrid Goes West is not the funniest film ever but the relation to reality it possesses is almost unbelievable.

Overall, Ingrid Goes West is a truly smart, witty and satirical comedy that delivers some great performances from its cast. The commentary on the digital age that it possesses is over the top at times but never unbelievable. And while the ending is sure to carry different meanings to different people, it’s certainly one of the more interesting of 2017. The film, while unbearably and intentionally awkward at times, is certainly worth a watch.

So what did you think of Ingrid Goes West? Have you seen it? Are you interested in seeing it? Subscribe, share, comment below, and as always return to I Am Sam for weekly reviews and insight.