ROLLING STONE – Social media stalking turns into full-blown stalking in the comedy Ingrid Goes West. The film stars Aubrey Plaza as Ingrid Thorburn, an oddball who becomes obsessed with Elizabeth Olsen’s character Taylor Sloane.
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In the new trailer, Thorburn closely follows Instagram influencer Sloane’s Instagram posts. Thorburn soon begins to shape her own life around the hashtag-slinging, selfie-loving Sloane, to the point that Thorburn moves to California to be closer to Sloane.
Thorburn goes so far as to kidnap Sloane’s dog as a means to befriend her (it works), dyes her hair blonde like Sloane’s and even adopts her laugh. Her wacky ploy seems to be working as the two become friends, until Sloane’s brother (portrayed by Billy Magnussen) catches on to Thorburn’s ruse.
While the plot seems pretty creepy on paper, in the clip Plaza and Olsen’s hilarious and punchy deliveries keep things primarily light and even strangely endearing. “I’m not a psychopath,” Thorburn insists. “I just want to be her friend.”
Directed by Matt Spicer, who co-wrote Ingrid Goes West with David Branson Smith, the film won the 2017 Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance Film Festival. Ingrid Goes West opens in theaters on August 11th.