Ingrid Goes West

Mobile phones have created a generation of people addicted to looking at the small rectangle in their hands and a wave of narcissists who only feel good about themselves if every aspect of their life is snapped and liked and faved. Social media has gone toxic and I say that as someone who loves twitter.

Ingrid Goes West is a social media age cautionary tale for all of us. And it's a very good one indeed.

Ingrid Thorburn has psychological issues. Her mother has recently died and her intense loneliness causes her to seek out friendships online. Instagram is the altar she prays at. A chance reply to a message causes her to pack up her life and move to Los Angeles to be closer to her newest "friend", Instagram star Taylor. Once there she finds herself creating a new personality and weaving a web of lies to keep herself interesting. Things are going well until.......

I really liked this but it scared me too. It's a sad indictment of modern day life. Everyone is terrified about what others think of them. Everything is put online. Everything is faked. Everything is posed and perfectly composed. Every reply is typed, deleted and then carefully crafted. Real life is twisted to fit a fake online persona. Every move is made to impress others. It's sad, it's pathetic, it's probably addictive as hell. Social media creates a false intimacy amongst strangers. When you see people chatting away online day in and day out you feel that you know them. But you don't really.

This is a very very topical film and certain aspects of it probably won't age too well but when it works it works. It's funny, upsetting, cringe making stuff that looks lovely, all bright California sunshine, pretty California faces and moody lighting at parties. Of course what really brings it together is a cracking cast. A good story is fine but good actors playing well written parts makes it succeed. Everyone is flawed in certain ways but there's no outright baddies here (apart from one absolute tool). Everyone is lying to make others like them. Their neediness humanises them all so you actually care about them. This isn't a warm and cuddly film either, it doesn't offer easy answers and it has an ending that can be read in a myriad of ways, happy or sad but all disturbing.

Aubrey Plaza is excellent as Ingrid. She's played parts like this before but none this dark or affecting. She's utterly convincing and quite terrifying in places. You'll care about her but hate her too. O'Shea Jackson Jr who was so good playing his father Ice Cube in Straight Outta Compton is great here too as Dan, Ingrid's Batman obsessed landlord who gets interwined in her fake little world. He's a very amiable presence who puts up with far far more than most people would. Elizabeth Olsen as Taylor is strong too, bringing a niceness to a role that could have been very unlikable in another actresses hands. This trio of performances do no wrong. 

If you have a teen that stares constantly at their phone you might want to avoid this and stay blissfully ignorant but otherwise it's very good food for thought. Plus it's less than 100 minutes long which is always a win in my book.

#WellWorthAWatch