Ingrid Goes West

Dark comedies are wonderful oddities that prove how strange and enlightening it can be confronting serious situations with humor. They take risks with subject matter most people are familiar with but don't talk about it as much and brings levity to it. Popular examples of this sub genre I'm familiar with include Little Miss Sunshine, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Heathers, Fight Club, and Election. The premises of theses movies may appear to be simple at first but once you move further inside its layers and brutal honesty surrounding the circumstances at hand, it opens up possible discussion topics regarding behavior towards the conflict. Recently trailers have been appearing for another new entry into that sub genre, Ingrid Goes West, which stars Aubrey Plaza, an actress audiences are familiar with based on projects she's been involved with such as the hit show, Parks and Recreation, and a couple of movies (in big or small roles) where her talent playing introverted bizarre characters seemed like a good choice for the aforementioned sub genre. I've remembered seeing them once or twice in theaters and the factors that got my attention were the interesting story premise, the actors, and a few of the comedy moments. At that point the film recently moved from a limited theater release to a wide public distribution and has received a positive critical buzz about it. I went into the auditorium ready to see how quirky yet real it can get and left it ecstatic over how impressive and solid it was.

Plot: The plot follows a woman with mental health issues exacerbated by her past troubles who obsesses over a popular social media influencer leading to her moving where she lives. One way to describe this would be an R rated film version of the dark comedy show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The story takes on the subject matter of societal networking (in this case focusing on the popular site Instagram as an example) and how it affects people to certain degrees. While that may sound simple on paper, it's very honest in its approach towards the characters and the layers going between them. It doesn't fully talk about its own messages but trusts the audience to interpret what it's conveying through the behaviors of our main protagonists, which helps itself standout from other films that have hindered themselves by hammering in the message too hard. In addition to that, the ending is something worth thinking about after all is said and done. The experience is very smooth with the running time of one hour and thirty minutes with nothing to drag the momentum it builds. The comedy works pretty well in elevating how realistic these types of people are and the decisions they would make in real life. Overall the story Ingrid Goes West is fascinating to watch in how it displays the undergoing theme via behaviors towards community networking.

Characters: The characters to focus on are Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza), Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen), and Dan (O'Shea Jackson Jr). Ingrid is a mentally unstable woman whose loneliness pushes her to be obsessed with Taylor to the point of moving to Los Angeles in order to pursue a friendship with her. Aubrey provides a great performance in this role (one of her best so far) that allows her to express a range of emotions from her social awkwardness to being very vulnerable to the harshness of reality. Taylor is a popular Instagram trend setter Ingrid is obsessed with to the point of emulating her lifestyle. Elizabeth gives a great performance for this character and it's worth noting to pay attention to the similarities and differences between Ingrid and Taylor in regards to the message being conveyed. Dan is Ingrid's landlord when she moves to Los Angeles who's an aspiring screenwriter and a Batman enthusiast. O'Shea is another great standout among the cast with his charismatic portrayal as the only genuine character and his aforementioned interest actually connects to the layers being presented throughout the story. Honorable mentions go to Ezra (Wyatt Russell) and Nicky (Billy Magnussen) for their unique personalities shown in their supporting roles. Overall the cast in Ingrid Goes West showcase great renditions for relatable characters whose interactions are worth watching as they communicate commentary that deserves discussion after the first viewing.

Overall Consensus: Ingrid Goes West treats its topic with realistic respect, which is bolstered by strong lead performances, relatable characters, and hilarious dark comedy. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🍿🎟

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You like black comedies. You want to see unique independent films. You like movies that focuses on the effects of public media to honest extremes. You like films that let you interpret the messages throughout the story instead of completely shoving it in your face. You want to see how it treats the Los Angeles environment (places like Joshua Tree are featured here). You like films with rewatch value to dig deep into the layers. You like watching movies that flow very nice without any dragging moments.

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You dislike dark comedies. You dislike films that let you interpret the messages throughout the story instead of completely shoving it in your face.

Coming up next: August has concluded its run of movies with some surprises from each of the entries. Girls Trip brought back success for the comedy gross comedies, Detroit brought brutal horror realism to the period films in its portrayal of the Algiers Motel incident, and Ingrid Goes West inserted another great addition to the dark comedy sub-genre. But now it's time to move to the next set with the one year anniversary of Screening Spectacles! Next month will be September-versary: The Movie Menace! While the roster of those upcoming entries is currently being finalized as I'm writing this review at the time, I can confirm the next review will be arriving soon and will be the 50th film analyzed on Screening Spectacles! Tune in next time as September-versary: The Movie Menace will begin with the recently released independent film, Good Time!