Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Ingrid Goes West Blu-ray Movie Review

#Obsessed

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 22, 2017

Ingrid Goes West: social (media) commentary or Horror film? Director Matt Spicer's picture about a troubled young woman searching for meaning, friendship, everything but herself in today's hashtag world is an occasionally funny but frequently dark tale about today's digital traps and the dangers of intersecting real life and the façades people make in it with the digital and the façades people make in it. Ingrid travels across the country in search of "truth" and "happiness" she finds in the digital medium, leaving behind past online hurts and the horrid hashtags that have haunted her in search of a manufactured friendship with a fresh young face who seems to have everything together, who is #special and #blessed and #happy, everything Ingrid feels she is not. The film dances around a few different purposes, between biting social commentary, cautionary tale, and frightening examination of today's #phony world where a peppy hashtag is today's equivalent of responding "fine" to a polite query when life is anything but.

Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) lives and dies with the social media hashtag. She finds joy in watching her "friends" celebrate their accomplishments and share their happiness with the world. Or, at least, she finds joy in it if she's been tagged, if she's in on the fun IRL, too. But usually, she's not. She's known as the local psycho, a friendless weirdo whose obsessions with others only push her further away from everyone. When she crashes and ruins one of her "friend's" weddings, she's briefly institutionalized but is soon released and searches for a new meaning in life, online. She discovers a blogger named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen) who lives in L.A. Ingrid communicates with her, and when she receives a polite, off-the-cuff response about a dish at a restaurant, she cashes out her inheritance and travels cross-country to meet her new would-be bestie. She rents a room from a struggling screenwriter and Batman fanatic named Dan (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) and sets out to wrench her way into Taylor's life, going so far as to kidnap her dog as a means of getting into her life. Surprisingly, the two hit it off, but as Ingrid finds herself more and more immersed in Taylor's perfect life, the more she comes to learn that things may not be as cheery as her hashtags suggest while, simultaneously, Taylor and her inner circle begin to realize that Ingrid is not all she claims to be.

Ingrid is creepy, insecure, obsessed, and dangerous but frequently written and portrayed with a mild comic overtone, too. She's sure of what she wants but not always sure how to respond once she has it. Fun and flirty moments with Taylor sometimes turn into a chore for Ingrid as she maneuvers through her own insecurities, her own disbelief that she's sitting right there with her new best friend for whom she has rearranged her life to fit into Taylor's bubble. That's what the movie boils down to, essentially: the dangers not so much of Internet stalking and losing control over a hashtag or a post but rather betraying one's own center and soul to fit in somewhere else. And that's always been a danger. The Internet has certainly facilitated that, with everyone spilling their life stories and moments online, to many degrees of truth, but people hero worshipping and rearranging themselves to fit into a different circle is certainly nothing new. And neither is the truth that much in that externally glamorous circle is a lie. Look at Heathers, a brilliant 80s Dark Comedy that essentially said the same thing, several decades back. Ingrid comes in from the outside as opposed to Veronica who travels out of the circle from within, but the principle stands: nothing is ever as rosy as it appears, and "too good to be true" is usually a universal truism.

Ingrid rearranges everything -- place of residence, tastes, styles -- in hopes of fitting in with someone she knows nothing about beyond a series if Internet postings that anybody could cook up, a collection of hostages anyone could put in front of a word. She finds that her roller coaster of a life cannot be settled by changing who she is. As the story develops and truths are revealed, dangers are found, some problems are averted, some disasters are unavoidable, her awkwardly clique-friendly persona vanishes in favor of the creepy stalker that forced her relocation in the first place. The film has some interesting things to say about the human condition right up until its final shot, a chilling moment that rings true for both the character and the greater world that exists outside of the theater where digital notoriety might be more important than life or death itself, as thousands of others, some certainly like Ingrid, many probably not, flock to a cause, a hashtag, an idea, a truth, a lie, without understanding any more about it than a couple hundred characters and whatever spin and hashtag the author puts on the story.

Ingrid Goes West Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ingrid Goes West looks just fine on Blu-ray, presenting on the 1080p format with a largely typical image for a midlevel, digitally photographed motion picture. Good detail, good color. Neither could be considered elaborate, but everything largely pleases. Basics on both fronts are in good working order, with quality skin textures, well defined clothes, and pleasantly sharp environments the norm. Only a few smudgy edges are to be seen. Colors are stable and pleasing, with the most intensive, like Dan's yellow Lakers jersey, revealing a pleasing level of well saturated coloring. Black levels are nice and deep in places but a little pale in others. Lower light shots are home to the most visible noise. Skin tones appear accurately reflective of the actors' complexions. Beyond the noise, no other intrusive source or encode flaws are readily or persistently problematic.

Ingrid Goes West Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Read video above? Same goes with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Ingrid Goes West's sound needs are in good hands with Universal's multichannel endeavor, and even as the film has no substantial elements on offer, what's here is pleasing to the ear. Swirling sounds greet the listener early on, as camera clicks and thoughts of hashtags and other bits maneuver through Ingrid's head. Music is in good working order with quality width and depth and clarity at the forefront. Ambient effects nicely draw the listener into a few key locations. Dialogue is of course the chief sonic element, and it's presented with all of the qualities typical of lifelike spoken words.

Ingrid Goes West Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Ingrid Goes West contains a commentary, deleted scenes, and a trailer. A digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Audio Commentary: Director/Co-Writer Matt Spicer, Co-Writer David Branson Smith, and Aubrey Plaza dissect the movie.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 8:12 total runtime): Ingrid Approaches Taylor, Naked Nicky, and Table Ready. With optional Director/Co-Writer Matt Spicer, Co-Writer David Branson Smith, and Aubrey Plaza commentary.
• Trailers (1080p): Teaser -- Green Band (1:23), Teaser -- Red Band (1:15), Trailer -- Green Band (2:22), and Trailer -- Red Band (2:03).

Ingrid Goes West Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Ingrid Goes West has its moments of levity and oddity but it's so much more than the story of weird obsession and mental instability. The lead character is brilliantly portrayed with tremendous depth and understanding of the character's unstable emotional state. Chilling, dark, but accessible and terrifyingly relevant, the film opens a lot of doors to the dangers of online obsession, shares, and false fronts. Universal's Blu-ray offers quality video and audio against a few extras. Recommended.