Oh, man! To be quite honest, I did not know much about this movie except it starred Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen and O'Shea Jackson Jr. and Plaza's character goes west. So, I saw the trailer, got a taste of the tone of the movie and laughed a little bit as it connects social media to Plaza's character's state of life. I was worried, though, I thought it would be one-dimensional with Plaza being snarky and using her comical shtick to appeal to me and the audience. However, even though I don't like devoting a movie being good on one single component, I thought Aubrey Plaza's performance took the movie on another level with her unusual antics and her mental states that incorporates the humor with a social commentary that is executed real well and is finished real well. There's a lot more than I thought that was riding on this movie and it is an insightful comedy about how you handle yourself when it comes to the obstacles of social media.
A mentally unstable young woman named Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza), who lives in Pennsylvania, uncovers the truth on her Instagram account that an unrequited friend of hers, Charlotte (Meredith Hagner), did not invite her to the wedding. Ingrid is horrified and decides to crash the reception and mace her (which was darkly hilarious). However, after spending time in the mental hospital after her actions in the reception, Ingrid is released and greeted by a guest saying that Charlotte was never friends with her and that it was one-sided.
While reading a magazine, Ingrid learns of a social media influencer named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen). She envies Taylor's life and using her inheritance from her mother (it is said that she died early in the movie), she moves to Los Angeles to begin another chapter and to live like Taylor and to also become friends with her. She rents a house in Venice from Dan (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), who is an aspiring screenwriter, and gets a makeover. Ingrid kidnaps Taylor's dog after running into Taylor at a book store and she returns the dog to Taylor and her husband, Ezra (Wyatt Russell), due to their worries about the disappearance of their pet. Ingrid has dinner with the couple later but how long will this charade last?
This is a well-done that could have easily gone the predictable, sentimental route of being friends but the movie is a bit too good to be formulaic because it is a character study about a woman who wants to be friends and have a different lifestyle that is more fun and exciting to cope with her loss of her mother. I mean, that is understandable but sometimes it takes too far and you can be so mentally unstable that you can be identified as an anti-hero, not a villain, per se because in reality, there is no hero or villain, just someone who is entirely lost after a dire situation. I sort of did not like that this more central to Instagram than other social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, there could be more subtext to the situation. Plus, it is dangerous that when a version or a persona of a certain social media celebrity is not identical to the person's real personality because it will easily get suspicious.
Aubrey Plaza steals the movie as she shows so much range from establishing her comedic range, in a dark satirical way in social media standards, to dramatic tension towards the end, without anything giving away, because it is disturbing. Her character is daring and awkward that observes perceptive moments that makes her human. Elizabeth Olsen has had a couple of strong weeks where she gives a brilliant performance in this movie and also in Wind River, she plays a star who is vapid but grasps opportunities to grow her brand: herself. O'Shea Jackson Jr. is good as the landlord. Billy Magnussen as the brother sort of hits and misses for me and Wyatt Russell is great as Olsen's character's husband who is basically the barrier between Ingrid's and Taylor's "bond".
Director Matt Spicer creates something quite unique in this movie about dealing with social media that could either elevate your life or decreases your reputation. Both Plaza and Olson are about the same character from two different backgrounds that have different ideas, which I thought was rather sort of a narrative breakthrough to understand both characters. If you think about it, it is the social media version of Nightcrawler. It is not as revolutionary but it is definitely as realistic to understand what social media can do to a person. I thought it crosses conventional territory when the friendship is in peril and abandons the realism. However, as indie movies go, this is a delight thanks to strong performances, a great message and a well-done conclusion.
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