Ingrid Goes West: An interview with director Matt Spicer

Social media is a ubiquitous presence in our lives, and in today’s digital utopia (or dystopia?) one has to struggle to escape it. We’ve become obsessed with Likes and Followers – desperately seeking approval for a posted photo or a status update – and we envy those with so many of both, to the point where it’s like currency. Ingrid Goes West explores these issues to their extremes.

Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) is a mentally perturbed obsessive who stalks Instagram personalities, desperate to be their friend. When she inherits $60,000 after her mother dies, Ingrid moves to Los Angeles in the hope of befriending Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), a popular photographer and social media influencer.

The Upcoming was pleased to interview writer-director Matt Spicer about his debut. We discussed the transition from short films to features, working with great talent like Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen, and the unsettling divide between Digital Reality and Actual Reality. 

Euan Franklin

Ingrid Goes West is released nationwide on 17^th November 2017. Read our review here.

Watch the trailer for Ingrid Goes West here: