It’s no secret that our generation
is one that is obsessed with itself.
Narcissism runs deep in the roots
of millennial culture, with social
media being the main vehicle of
maintaining a satisfactory virtual
self-image. “Ingrid Goes West,”
a new indie comedy starring the
inimitable Aubrey Plaza (“The Little
Hours”), searches to deconstruct
this issue in the most twisted way
possible.
After a stint in a mental
institution, the film’s title character,
played by Plaza, decides to head
to Los Angeles in search of a new
life and a new BFF in Instagram
influencer Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth
Olsen, “Wind River”). Using a hefty
inheritance from her deceased
mother,
Ingrid’s
excursions
to
become exactly like Taylor — dying
her hair the same shade of blonde,
buying the same Joan Didion novel,
eating the same vegan enchilada
— lead to both disturbing and
hysterical results. Once Ingrid gets
acquainted with Taylor and her
pretentious husband Ezra (a great
Wyatt Russell, “Everybody Wants
Some!!”), her obsession slowly turns
into a very, very dark journey of
misguided desire.
Despite how uncomfortable it is
to see Ingrid put herself through this
experience, it’s not far from reality.
In a way, Ingrid represents all
those who feel lost and seek to find
meaning and solace in the “unique”
personalities that live on social
media. “Ingrid Goes West” prevails
overall as a satire on identity in the
modern age. At times, the themes
of social media and self-image skim
the surface of being heavy-handed
and exploitative, kind of like Jason
Reitman’s similarly themed “Men,
Women & Children.” But what
that movie lacked in nuance and
depth, “Ingrid Goes West” makes
up for with heart and intelligent
storytelling.
Perhaps “Ingrid Goes West”
wouldn’t be nearly as absorbing
without
its
incredible
acting.
Plaza,
in
particular,
gives
a
layered
lead
performance
as
Ingrid, complementing her usual
deadpan
expressions
with
a
profound,
relatable
loneliness.
Olsen nails the Instagram queen
personality, neither downplaying
nor exaggerating the artifice of her
character. Both O’Shea Jackson Jr.
(“Straight Outta Compton”) and
character actor Billy Magnussen
(“Friends from College”) nearly
steal the show. Jackson Jr. imbues
irresistible charm into Ingrid’s vape-
smoking landlord/romantic interest
Dan, while Magnussen’s role as
Taylor’s douchey brother Nicky has
the actor sliding from deceptively
beguiling to off-the-wall bonkers.
Along with the brilliant cast,
“Ingrid Goes West” also benefits
from nifty aesthetic sleekness. Bryce
Fortner’s cinematography saturates
his shots with pulpy neon colors
and lurid day-glo undertones. The
script, written by David Branson
Smith and director Matt Spicer,
tackles timely themes, though the
millennial
slang
and
excessive
hashtags will induce some eye-
rolling. Even the traditional, string-
heavy score stands out as the film’s
most underrated aspect, bringing
a nice, contrapuntal touch to the
story’s postmodern vibe.
As entertaining and well-
acted as it is, “Ingrid Goes West”
is not a perfect film, nor is it
groundbreaking. Much like its
protagonist, “Ingrid Goes West”
feels like it can go off the edge
at any moment of its brisk 97
minute runtime. The opening
scene, in which a devastated
Ingrid assaults her ex-best friend
Charlotte with mace, makes for a
rather unpleasant introduction.
There’s an intense, semi-crime
thriller bit in the third act that
almost pushes the film’s tone off
balance. And for some, Ingrid’s
character may be grating and
even unbearable, as we watch her
lie and cheat her way to become
Taylor’s best friend. The point
of her actions and their ultimate
consequences
makes
for
a
simplistic lesson on the façade of
living a filtered lifestyle, a lesson
that could be encapsulated in a
simple tweet.
6
Thursday, August 10, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ARTS
The story behind “Detroit” is still
as relevant today as it was in the late
’60s. To this day, African-Americans
suffer from repulsive police brutality
and crippling institutional racism.
Kathryn Bigelow’s (“Zero Dark
Thirty”) retelling of the Algiers
Motel incident during the 1967
Detroit Riot is a graphic, brutally
honest recount of the menacing
mistreatment of Blacks at the hands
of white police officers during one
of the bleakest moments of the 20th
Century.
“Detroit”
introduces
the
beginning of the Riot on July 23rd,
1967 following a police raid on a club
welcoming home Black veterans
from Vietnam. Other historical
moments are documented, like
Rep. John Conyers’s plea to stop
the violence, along with Gov.
George Romney’s deployment of
the National Guard. Instantly, we
are thrown into the mayhem and
introduced to the characters who
would later be involved in the Algiers
incident. The madness unfolds
rapidly, and throughout the first
two-thirds of the movie, there isn’t
a moment to catch your breath while
watching the painful police brutality
and destruction of the city.
The story is told in three acts,
the first serving as an introduction
to the characters and how they
ended up in the Algiers Motel. Act
two focuses on the incident itself,
while the third shows the resulting
court cases. Although each act is
connected, they all feel like their
own independent movie, differing
in both pace and tension. Mark Boal
(“Zero Dark Thirty”), journalist
and frequent collaborator with
Bigelow, packs a lot of intensity
into the first two acts. The third,
however, drags: After witnessing
the horrors at the Motel, the rest
of the movie feels especially slow
and unrewarding. The 143-minute
running time could have been cut
to a more manageable length, but
doing so would require sacrificing
vital historical information. Either
way, a courtroom drama ending is
lackluster in comparison to the prior
events.
Every shot and moment in the
Motel is painful to watch, mostly
because messes like this do occur.
The police’s incompetence and
everyone’s visceral fear boils over
into a situation where every possible
thing that could go wrong does.
Here, Bigelow boasts her knack at
building tension and showing utter
chaos candidly. The camera is always
moving, and with each cut between
the police and their suspects —
hostages,
rather
—
everything
intensifies. These moments are
some of Bigelow’s most outwardly
suspenseful, even considering “The
Hurt
Locker”’s
bomb
disposal
scenes.
Will Poulter (“The Revenant”)
stars as Philip Krauss, a Detroit police
officer who we first see fatally shoot a
running Black shoplifter in the back.
After returning to duty, he continues
to cause harm, initiating the raid on
the Algiers and killing an unarmed
tenant. Krauss is a bitter taste of evil.
He tries to cover up his wrongdoings
— murdering innocent Black men
in the Motel — by placing knives
near the dead bodies to create the
appearance that they were armed.
I would like to know if this form of
racism, paranoia and sloppiness still
exists in the police force, though, I
probably shouldn’t ask questions I
don’t want the answers to. Poulter
gives a performance worthy of an
Oscar nom and sets the standard for
portraying a realistic antagonist.
In an ensemble cast, Poulter is
accompanied by many other actors
in their prime, like “Star Wars: The
Force Awakens”’s John Boyega,
playing a security guard who tries
to ease the tension. Hannah Murray
(“Game of Thrones”) plays Julie,
one of two white women abused
by the police during the incident.
We even see John Krasinski (“The
Office”) play an attorney defending
the police officers in the movie’s
third act. But ultimately, it’s Algee
Smith’s (“The New Edition Story”)
role as Larry Reed, singer for the
R&B group The Dramatics, that
stands out as the most believable.
When he walks onstage to an empty
Fox Theater, his presence feels real,
making the audience feel like they’re
struggling with him through his
pursuit for success. Bigelow forces
the best possible performances out
of every actor, and without such vivid
representations of actual people, the
movie would flounder and be nothing
more than a C-grade History Channel
documentary.
For those who tote “Blue Lives
Matter” insignia and proudly say “all
lives matter,” “Detroit” should be first
on the what-to-watch-next queue.
It openly shows police acting with
dangerous biases in ways that are not
in the public’s best interest. At a time
when our culture is more divided
than united, “Detroit” is an invaluable
movie to demonstrate that history
does, in fact, repeat itself. Although
flawed, it’s another gripping movie to
add to Bigelow’s ever-increasing list
of on-screen triumphs.
‘Detroit’ is a tragic retelling
WILL STEWART
Summer Managing Arts Editor
‘Ingrid’ is the darkest
comedy of summer
SAM ROSENBERG
Daily Arts Writer
“Detroit”
Rave Cinemas,
Quality 16
Annapurna
Pictures
MOVIE REVIEW
ANNAPURNA PICTURES
John Boyega stars as Melvin Dismukes
MOVIE REVIEW
“Ingrid Goes
West”
Neon
Read more online at
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