Ingrid Goes West is about a young woman who is incapable of making friends organically and connects by stalking women online. While in the relationship, she is not even necessarily doing things that she enjoys. Her derangement has no limits in terms of self-preservation. She wants to be like them and get their acceptance through communion. Other than this insatiable and unreasonable hunger, there is nothing else of note to Ingrid except her loss of an anchor, her first and only real relationship. She is like a psychological zombie, a human vacuum, a strange mix of stalker and narcissist.
I didn’t see Ingrid Goes West in theaters because it seemed to be marketed in the same way that Colossal was, and instinctually I knew that I would not be into it. I did put it in my queue because I have loved Aubrey Plaza since Parks and Recreations. Plaza’s performances are always slightly off hinged and interesting with an under current of danger, but I didn’t think that the film fully utilized her skills. I think that Summer Glau could have been Ingrid. By pulling punches on Plaza as a physical threat, I think that it was a missed opportunity.
The men in Ingrid Goes West are actually more intriguing. Ezra, Taylor’s husband, nails the internal conflict of an artist at war with what it takes to be a success, but not wanting to be a phony and ultimately failing at both. Wyatt Russell makes interesting choices that mirror Ingrid’s predicament, but departs from traditional male gender norm reactions at pivotal interactions. Nick, Taylor’s brother, is also intriguing because even though he is loathsome, he is right. He can smell inauthenticity immediately and despises it instinctually, which explains why both Ezra and Ingrid share an antipathy of him. Nick senses their weaknesses, but instead of empathizing, he attacks; however he does not notice it in Taylor.
Taylor as a character needed to be expanded. An underexplored aspect of Ingrid Goes West is how the object of Ingrid’s obsession, Taylor, is similar to her. Taylor constantly chases people who could give her more followers and may not have much of a unique personality since her favorite book is actually her husband’s, she recycles intimate stories and performs instead of experiences. Nick and Taylor are exploiters and successful scavengers and are foils for Ezra and Ingrid.
The only vaguely normal human being is Dan, who geeks out on Batman, but is the only person capable of normal human interactions without agenda. I also don’t get Dan. He sees something in people that literally does not exist and is like a sheep among wolves. He is not stupid, but he acts as if he is. I suppose that a simple explanation is sex, but he likes Nick too so….
I don’t understand the people who classify Ingrid Goes West as a comedy. It is not funny. I was stressed about the dog and Ingrid’s finances. When Ingrid’s worlds begin to clash after 57 minutes, it was excruciating like a 1970s sitcom based on misunderstanding except without an ounce of things improving once the confusion dissipated. The movie wanted to comment on the nature of social media and human relationships in the real world, but I feel like it missed the mark by being too pat or dismissive. It is not all damaging and rote.