Ingrid Goes West

At one point in her career, it seemed as if Aubrey Plaza were in danger of becoming typecast as the sardonic, somewhat strange, and slightly terrifying persona of the type she honed to a fine art as April Ludgate in beloved sitcom Parks And Recreation. However, her film work has shown her to be capable of turning in much more nuanced performances, as seen in her performances in films such as Black Bear (2020), and this, Matt Spicer’s blackly comic and biting satire of the effects of social media that sees Plaza play to her strengths while resisting caricature, instead creating a more rounded and sympathetic character. Instagram addict Ingrid (Plaza) tends to become obsessed with so-called ‘influencers’. Her latest fixation is on Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), into whose life she insinuates herself in increasingly desperate fashion, with mixed results.