INGRID GOES WEST

Directing: B+
Acting: B+
Writing: B+
Cinematography: B
Editing: B+

I was afraid Ingrid Goes West might be annoying, with its stalker-needy protagonist. It probably says something that instead of annoying me, Ingrid made me deeply uncomfortable. And to a degree, Taylor Sloane, the object of Ingrid's obsession, did too. She's plenty obsessed with putting up a front on social media herself.

What director and co-writer Matt Spicer shows us with this movie is there is a fine line between Ingrid and Taylor, and far too much of the time, far too many of us straddle that line. Obsession comes in all forms, as does addiction. These are characters reflecting a world of people ironically desperate to present themselves as authentic.

In the opening scene, Ingrid, played with quiet menace by Aubrey Plaza, crashes a wedding. She maces the bride and screams that it's what she gets for not inviting her. But Ingrid is the very kind of mentally unstable person who can't see that her behavior is why she wasn't invited. We later learn that she never really was close friends with this woman anyway. That's not a spoiler; it's the setup. After some time spent in a mental hospital -- Ingrid is genuinely mentally unbalanced -- she sets her sights on a new target.

Taylor is the subject of a photo spread in a magazine, and it's still unclear to me exactly why. Just because she's gotten a ton of followers on Instagram, maybe? The headline says something to the effect of "Taylor Sloane wants to be your best friend." Ingrid takes this seriously, cashes a ton of inheritance money and moves to L.A. where Taylor lives.

There's a bit of a dichotomy in Ingrid Goes West's presentation of social media and its use. On the one hand, few movies get it so right -- the time people spend on it, and what kind of psychological effects it can have. On the other hand, although I can't remember if its brand logo is ever actually visible onscreen, the one app any of them uses is clearly Instagram, and in what world would that be the only social media anyone ever uses? Apparently in this one, the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat -- none of them exist.

That doesn't prevent this movie from being deeply cutting satire, mind you. Although it's billed as a comedy, and much of it is funny in ways that sneak up on you, it has a pervasive, lingering creepiness. Much of what these people do, in a multitude of subtle ways, hits a little close to home for anyone who spends a lot of time on social media. A minor example: early on, Ingrid is typing a comment on one of Taylor's Instagram posts. She types, and deletes, and types and deletes. Who among us has never done this?

It's worth noting, though, that Taylor herself is a perfectly drawn social media presence, all presentation and no substance -- at least not on her Instagram account. Elizabeth Olsen created a fake Taylor Sloane account on Instagram to learn and do research, but Matt Spicer could have just as easily found one of countless actors already using Instagram in the same way. Olsen was arguably a better choice, as she clearly understands that Taylor Sloane the character may not quite have the same objective look at how this story plays out.

It plays out in ways you don't quite see coming, and is all the better for it. Ingrid Goes West illustrates in painfully accurate ways how social media exacerbates our deepest insecurities. Ingrid herself may have genuine mental health issues -- which Aubrey Plaza plays with sympathy and compassion -- but she's never so many steps away from the average social media power-user that they can't see how easily it can be to end up where she spirals to.

Being set in Los Angeles, Ingrid Goes West also finds unique ways to jab at Hollywood and L.A. culture. Ingrid befriends her landlord, Dan Pinto (O'Shea Jackson Jr., giving a subtly comic performance all his own), and he is obsessed with Batman. This alone makes Ingrid Goes West a great movie for Batman fans, with its many references to the movies. Ingrid manipulates Dan by using his fandom, complete with a corny sex scene with her dressed as Catwoman that directly references famous bits from Batman Returns.

Social media has arguably transformed our world more dramatically than anything since the very invention of the Internet. Many movies have tried to capture the detailed effects of that transformation and failed spectacularly. Ingrid Goes West is one movie that for once gets it right.

Elizabeth Olsen and Aubrey Plaza's moment of peace will momentarily be replaced by the next post in your feed.

Overall: B+