httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmnWsNoNn9U
The strongest scene in Ingrid Goes West occurs early on.
Ingrid, a mentally unstable woman finding emotional solace in social media stars, is sat lazily on her couch scrolling through the feed of an “Influencer” she has grown enamoured with.
She types out a supportive comment under one of the girl’s images, each tap accompanied by that plasticky electronic echo that every self-respecting smartphone user really ought to switch off.
She quickly gets cold feet – should she really start her comment with “Dam girl”? [sic].
She deletes it and starts over, tapping in another draft, only this time ending her message with a “Hahahaha” – the universal signifier of total chillness.
She changes it to “Hehehe”, then scraps that effort in favour of a “Heh heh”.
When it’s at its best, Ingrid Goes West trafficks in this sort of thing.
A endearingly tragic Aubrey Plaza, star of TV hits Parks and Recreation and Legion, is the loner of the title, who has channelled her need for human interaction into the prettily saturated depths of Instagram.
A place stocked with tight-bodied fantasy and inevitable disappointment, it’s both the best and worst place for her.