Ingrid Goes West

Ingrid Thorburn is a lonely young woman who has just left a treatment center after attacking a woman whose wedding she followed online. After her mother dies, Ingrid uses the money she receives to leave Pennsylvania and move to Venice Beach, California. She chooses a new target, Instagram star Taylor Sloane, and tries to become her closest friend. Ingrid steals Taylor’s dog, copies her tastes, and lies to enter her life. The movie is a dark, tense comedy about stalking, grief, and the need to be noticed.

The main identity-related material is the film’s focus on two women and Ingrid’s intense, partly romantic crush on Taylor. Ingrid copies Taylor because she does not know who she is, while Taylor sells a polished image of female friendship, beauty, and success. The story also pokes at the pressure on women to look happy, stylish, and socially wanted online. It does not turn these ideas into a political speech, and it shows both women as selfish, dishonest, and damaged. Most of the film’s message targets social-media addiction, fake lifestyles, loneliness, and mental health rather than identity politics.