Ingrid Goes West Analysis

There is something truly rewarding as a movie fan, when a talented actor, good and entertaining in a number of roles, finally breaks out and taps into greatness. In Matt Spicer's feature film debut, Ingrid Goes West, Aubrey Plaza gives her finest performance yet as a woman caught up in the instant gratification world of social media. In a role that could be full of formulaic meltdowns and tired cinematic tropes, she creates a character who is selfish and dangerous, yet generates empathy and twinges the heartstrings a little bit.

Plaza gives us one intriguing character with the 20-something Ingrid Thorburn. We first meet her in the throes of a meltdown, arriving and macing a social media celebrity who never invited her to her wedding. This event leads to her being placed in a mental health faciity, where she rehabs right into another object of her attention: Taylor …show more content…
For starters, living in an age where a person can be dubbed a YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, or Vine star is a reflection of a culture where we are increasingly digesting entertainment in smaller chunks, faster than ever before. Though the script focuses on Ingrid and her deranged and troubling behavior, the movie does pose the question of just how much posting and sharing with one another is enough. Or is there simply no line we can ever cross? Can we ever go back?

What Plaza does here is exceptional. She gives us a character impossible to rally behind, and yet one who generates a fascinating vulnerability with her every decision. Though dubbed a comedy, Ingrid Goes West is primarily a satirical drama, infringing on a few suspense/thriller moments, with some outlandish comedy spiked in. Wildly in over her head, Ingrid's instability allows Spicer the opportunity to create an environment where we can feel the coldness intensify towards Ingrid, from a number of characters in the movie. And yet she presses