Why ‘Ingrid Goes West’, but no Further

As my Aubrey Plaza double feature binge, I paired Black Bear with Ingrid Goes West. The two movies pair well to really highlight how much range Plaza brings to her nonchalant vibes that she’s best known for.

The film Ingrid Goes West is a relatively straightforward story, with a basic, elementary set of performances from Elizabeth Olsen and Wyatt Russell, and a stellar performance by Plaza. The film centers on a girl who obsessively stalks and then befriends an influencer, going as far as moving to LA, kidnapping a dog, stealing a car, and even kidnapping.

The film escalates the ridiculousness that Plaza goes through to maintain her short-lived friendship with Olsen. Throughout the film, when Plaza is alone, her pain and frustration burst through, and validate the absurd lengths to which she goes through. The borderline comical efforts, though selfish and immoral in nature, feel justified as Plaza’s performance elicits- nay- demands sympathy from the audience.

I also watched Lost Transmissions recently, and that film also focuses on mental health struggles, and how that affects the people around the person with the issues. Transmissions is a tragedy up until the end, when the main character finally accepts he may need help. West, on the other hand, isn’t as much of a commentary on these issues, and instead focuses its runtime on the comedy rather than the drama. Unsatisfyingly, it ends with Plaza gaining fame for authenticity, but the sparkle in her eyes before the credits implies she’s only more enabled to continue her actions.

The movie is funny, it’s enticing, Plaza is great, the supporting cast is great. I only felt that the narrative needed to ground itself in a moral or a theme. Is her obsession bad? Does she get better? Does she at least acknowledge she’s got a problem? Or was the point of the movie to just be funny and crazy? I think some folks will still enjoy Ingrid Goes West, despite it falling just short of catharsis. I rate the film

YMMV

I watched Ingrid Goes West on Tubi.

Wondering how my rating system works? Let me explain!