Does The Film ‘Ingrid Goes West’ Show What Can Happen When Someone Feels Worthless?

A little while ago a friend mentioned a few films and as he was going through them, he said that one of them sounded good. This was a film called ‘Ingrid Goes West’, with this being the film that we ended up watching.

Overall, I thought it was a very interesting and entertaining film; one of those films that’s a bit different. A little while after I had watched it, I thought that it would be the ideal film for me to write about.

From The Beginning

It kicks off with Ingrid looking through her friend’s social media profile, and this is a friend who is getting married. Before long, Ingrid turns up at the wedding and spays something harmful into her friend’s eye.

As he wasn’t invited to her friend’s wedding, she decides to destroy her eye sight. From this act alone, it is clear that something is not quite right about her – she appears to be a bit unhinged.

A Dark Side

It could be said that she has the tendency to experience a fair amount of envy as opposed to merely feeling jealous. The reason for this is that if she simply felt jealous, she would want to have what another person has; but in her case, she doesn’t want to another person to have something if she can’t have it.

Shortly after this event, Ingrid ends up in a mental hospital, only to come out a little while later to find out that her mother has died. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t seem as though she is that bothered.

A New Mission

Her mother leaves her a bag full of money, but instead of using this money to start a new life for herself, she decides to use it to become friends with someone she has found on a social media site. From Taylor’s photos, it appears as though she lives the perfect life.

Ultimately, Ingrid wants what Taylor appears to have and she ends up moving into an apartment that is near to where she lives. First though, she does what she can to make herself look like her.

Their Paths Cross

Thanks to Ingrid’s online stalking, she is able to come into contact with Taylor. Not a lot happen this time but she soon comes into contact with her again when she brings Taylor her dog that had gone missing.

Taylor ends up embracing Ingrid and bringing her into her world. What pushes their bond to the next level is when Taylor says that something needs to be picked up or dropped off (I can’t remember precisely what is was for) and Ingrid says that she can help.

Cold and Calculated

Ingrid ends up asking Dan (Ice Cubes son) if she can use his truck and she says that she will do anything to borrow it. What is clear from her behaviour here and in other parts of the film before this moment, is that she is not exactly someone who lives in the moment and goes with the flow.

She is someone who generally has a hidden agenda, and she is prepared to do just about anything to get what she wants. If that means lying, she will do it, and, if that means causing harm, she will do that too.

A Lack of Empathy

Consequently, it is as though the people around her only have one purpose – to serve her needs. And, when they can no longer do this, she will simply toss them aside as if they were empty bottles.

After she has been on a little road trip with Taylor, she ends up bringing the truck back damaged. She is not really sorry abut what has taken place, with it being hard for her to understand why Dan is so annoyed and she doesn’t offer to pay for the damage either.

A Fake Relationship

Dan appears to be the complete opposite of Ingrid, displaying empathy, kindness and compassion. They end up going out for a meal together and when Dan starts talking to the waitress at the restaurant, Ingrid loses it and says that she is his girlfriend.

Dan sees this as a sign of how much she likes him; in reality, it most likely shows how controlling she is and sees Dan as her possession. They end up having sex at the end of the night and, although Dan sees this as a good sign, it is likely to be something that Ingrid took part in because of the leverage that it would give her.

The Party

At this point, it could be said that Dan is an empath and Ingrid is a narcissist with sociopathic tendencies. To use an analogy: Dan is like a trusting rabbit, while Ingrid is like a fox that would eat the rabbit alive.

Dan was then pulled in by Ingrid so that she had someone to go to the party with, that’s all. It is at this party that Ingrid finds out that all is not as it seems, and that Taylor doesn’t live the perfect life.

A Big Problem

Ingrid’s made-up world soon starts to crumble, though, as Taylor’s brother ends up going through her phone. Taylor’s response to this is to pay someone to punch her in the face so that it seems as though she was attacked by Nicky, with this being a way for her to try to make Dan attack Nicky.

The image that she has created is so important, that she would rather have Taylor’s brother killed than for the truth to come out. Nicky ends up surviving the ordeal and telling Taylor everything.

The Facade Has Fallen

As a last throw of the dice, Ingrid ends up buying the house next door to Taylor’s house. Her money is just about gone after this and she ends up going to Taylor’s party in order to charge her phone.

Ingrid’s Halloween disguise comes off and this is when they both end up having a conversation. It doesn’t go very well and this is when Ingrid says that Taylor is also living a lie, along with the rest of them.

What is also interesting about this part is that Ingrid ends up acting like the victim, even though she has caused a lot of harm and is anything but a victim. Playing the victim is then another role that she plays to try to avoid taking responsibility and to get what she wants.

A Matter of Degree

Ingrid is then the lunatic and the rest of them are normal, which is nothing more than an illusion. If anything, the rest of them have issues but they are in denial and their issues are not as bad as Ingrid’s.
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These people can then sit on their high horse and make out that they are fine, simply because most of their issues are more socially acceptable. For example, Nicky is in denial about his drug problem and Taylor is not willing to acknowledge her own addiction to making out that she lives the perfect life or the fact that she needs a constant stream of approval and attention from others.

The End

Ingrid leaves a message on a social media site and soon wakes up in hospital. But, her dream becomes a reality, as she soon finds out that her message has made her famous online.

Dan also turns up and acts as though they are still together, even though she moved out and left him. It is hard to say what is in store for Ingrid after this, but it is likely that it will be more of the same.

Final Thoughts

Taylor most likely had the need to create the perfect life online because she felt worthless, and this would then have been the reason she needed approval and attention from endless strangers to be able to feel good about herself. Her true feelings were simply being covered up by all the ‘likes’ and comments she received, with this being why she needed constant positive reinforcement.
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As for Ingrid, well, she no doubt also feels worthless deep down and she is likely to have something wrong with her brain. Perhaps she experienced a fair amount of abuse when she was younger, with her personality (and what’s going on in her brain) being a reaction to growing up in a very traumatic environment.