On paper, the idea of making a comedy about a mentally disturbed stalker does not sound terribly promising. On screen at Sundance, though, Matt Spicer’s “Ingrid Goes West” pulled off a tricky balancing act with style, drawing a rapturous reception in its world premiere at the Library Theatre on Friday night.
“Ingrid Goes West” is part black comedy, part psychological melodrama and part examination of the perils of social media, and it’s a lot of other things to boot. But Spicer has a deft touch with his story, and his cast marvelously fleshes out a bunch of people we care about even though, in most cases, we know we probably shouldn’t.
Right from the start, Spicer doesn’t make the task easy on himself. He opens by flashing back to an earlier event in the life of Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza), a young woman who got obsessed with an Instagram star and ended up in a mental institution after she crashed the woman’s wedding and assaulted the bride. So when she targets another social-media star, Taylor Sloane, a photographer played by Elizabeth Olsen, and promptly cashes in her inheritance and moves to Los Angeles with a bag of bills to be close to Taylor, we know it’s not going to end well.
Ingrid is delusional and dangerous, but she manages to ingratiate herself into Taylor’s life, even somehow weaseling into BFF territory and garnering a social media following of her own. Given what we already know about Ingrid, this shouldn’t be fodder for humor, but the world of social media climbers is so ripe for satire that Spicer manages to get in shots that amuse but also sting.
Olsen is terrific as the young star who projects an idealized life one Instagram pic at a time, not realizing how seriously some people may take all that carefully crafted fantasy. But Plaza’s performance takes center stage for the entire film, and she makes us ache for this woman even as we’re laughing at her.
Things get worse and worse as Ingrid’s plot unravels and she’s backed into a corner. Her only ally is a landlord with a Batman obsession. He’s played by an absolutely priceless O’Shea Jackson Jr., who brought the house down with the world-weary line, “Tupac said there’ll be days like this.”
By the end, “Ingrid Goes West” turns into a serious (but still wickedly funny) examination of the way we’re all frauds on social media. In a Q&A that followed the premiere, Spicer said, “The film was kind of our way of working out our complex feelings about social media.”
How complex? Well, the conclusion of the film could almost be considered a happy ending for Ingrid — and just as the ending of Martin Scorsese’s “The King of Comedy” was meant to make us uneasy, so does this similarly themed film leave us with an odd combination of relief and dread.
It’s dangerous territory, to be sure, but Spicer, Plaza and Olsen take us for a wildly entertaining ride through the rough terrain.
14 Hottest Sundance Movies for Sale: From Degenerate Nuns to Sexting Angelenos (Photos)
Park City, Utah, is about to be flush with cash -- and we're not talking about buying apres-ski gear. Here are the most promising sales titles of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
"Brigsby Bear" Kyle Mooney ("SNL") leads an impressive ensemble in what seems to be a millennial take on "The Truman Show." The title refers to a children's TV show made for an audience of one -- a boy named James, whose life changes after the show's abrupt end. Dave McCary directs from a script by Mooney and Kevin Costello. Claire Danes, Mark Hamill, Greg Kinnear and Michaela Watkins co-star.
"The Big Sick" Socially relevant fare that's based on a true story is often a winning combination for Sundance features. "Silicon Valley" star Kumail Nanjiani and girlfriend Emily V. Gordon wrote this true tale of bridging cultural divides among their families while navigating their careers and romance.
"Beach Rats" Multiple programmers, sales agents and content buyers told TheWrap they're all keen to see this thoroughly modern drama from Eliza Hittman. The movie stars Harris Dickinson as a Brooklyn teen with a grim home life, a budding romance with a female friend and a predilection for meeting up with older men he connects with online.
"A Ghost Story" David Lowery reunites with his "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" stars Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck for a chamber drama about a man who dies, and is forced to watch his loved one grieve over expanses of time.
"The Hero" Sam Elliott stars as an aging country legend confronting his demons (territory that netted Jeff Bridges an Oscar in 2010 for “Crazy Heart”). The film also stars "Orange Is the New Black" star Laura Prepon, which may make it hard for Netflix to resist scooping it up.
"Roxanne, Roxanne" As he keeps chugging along the road to the Academy Awards, "Moonlight" star Mahershala Ali comes to Park City with "Roxanne, Roxanne" -- the story of Lolita "Roxanne Shanté" Gooden, who became a fierce rap battle queen at age 14. Chante Adams stars in this real-life story from writer-director Michael Larnell.
"The Yellow Birds" Alexander Moors ("Blue Caprice") offers up this tale of young Iraq war veterans, which boasts hot up-and-coming stars Alden Ehrenreich (the new Han Solo) and Tye Sheridan. The tale unfolds as a mystery, with a fallen hero's mother (Jennifer Aniston) and a tough-as-nails military official (Jason Patric) searching for answers in a young man's death.
"Step" One of numerous hot docs in Park City, Amanda Lipitz’s opus follows a team of step dancers in Baltimore — an inspiring group of inner-city girls living in the midst of social unrest.
"To the Bone" Marti Noxon, a longtime symbol of female empowerment in TV for her work on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "UnREAL," makes her feature directorial debut with a pitch-black comedy about her own struggle with anorexia. The film stars Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves.
"Landline" Director Gillian Robespierre reunites with her "Obvious Child" star Jenny Slate for a tale of lying, cheating and Manhattanite family bonds. Slate produces; Edie Falco, John Turturro, Finn Wittrock and Jay Duplass co-star.
"The Polka King" Jack Black descends on Utah with a meaty role as a Bernie Madoff for the indie music scene. In Maya Forbes’ indie Black plays Polish immigrant Jan Lewan — who became the “King of Pennsylvania Polka” in the 1990s, bribing and cheating investors along the way.
"The Little Hours" Director Jeff Baena continues to surprise, this time with a quiet riot of a film about extremely misbehaving nuns in an Italian hamlet. Reunited with his real-life girlfriend and star Aubrey Plaza ("Life After Beth") and producer Liz Destro, "Little Hours" sees a medieval convent go insane after a sexy day laborer (Dave Franco) moves in.
"Golden Exits" Director Alex Ross Perry and star Emily Browning help bring two infighting New York families together. A prototypical indie drama with pedigree, it co-stars Mary-Louise Parker, Lily Rabe, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Sevigny, Adam Horowitz and Analeigh Tipton.
"Newness" Drake Doremus ("Like Crazy") returns to Sundance with another drama about young romance. This time, his "Equals" star Nicholas Hoult and newcomer Laia Costa play a contemporary L.A. couple navigating "a social media-driven hookup culture," whose relationship pushes multiple boundaries.
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Streaming companies and indie distributors will battle it out for these movies
Park City, Utah, is about to be flush with cash -- and we're not talking about buying apres-ski gear. Here are the most promising sales titles of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
