Scavenger Hunt 52 - #14 - A film with a primarily indigo poster.

"Hashtag #Perfect"

It's been a minute since I came across something that felt like an encapsulation of the soul of the society we live in. Ingrid Goes West easily earns that description with its deft tale from the insta-crypt.

This Crazy-Ex Girlfriend-esque (a compliment if there ever was one) fable made me feel incredibly uncomfortable throughout. That's not to say it isn't funny. The millennial flavor here works to its favor and had me in stitches more than a few times. More than that though, it's a drolly accurate takedown of our collective need for instant social gratification and the tolls (mental health-related and otherwise) that we're willing to accept in order to get that next small reassurance that we're appreciated.

Aubrey Plaza turns in what may be her best work so far here as the obsessive at the heart of this story. As an ironic and fractured foil for Elizabeth Olsen's disturbingly spot-on toxic embodiment of influencer culture, Plaza draws compelling empathy. The rest of the cast is solid with O'Shea Jackson Jr. standing out with an immensely likable turn and Billy Magnussen nailing the manic douchebag part yet again (side note: as much as he excels at this, I can't help wish he'd be given other opportunities).

Ingrid is a deliriously watchable yet deeply twisted yarn. Beneath the sun-kissed veneer of its zany dark comedy facade is an absorbing character piece about a lost soul seeking a genuine connection in the vast ether of an increasingly connected and, therefore, isolated world. This one is most worth following.

2019 Watchlist Ranked