Ingrid Goes West - Matt Spicer (2017)

Stalkers. Admit it, America, you're just as obsessed with them as they are about their targets. They're just fascinating. We wonder what exactly is wrong with them? But everybody is obsessed with celebrities, aren't they?  The difference is that we have the privilege of watching everything happen on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Live Journal and so many more. Whereas the Stalker has not only to know about their target, they must become friends with them in person.

From the start of "Ingrid Goes West," Ingrid's (Aubrey Plaza) insanity is established. We're shown what happens at the ending of a stalker/stalkee friendship.

She crashes a wedding, starts screaming at the bride and then throws acid onto her face. So I guess that makes Ingrid an anti-hero. 

After Ingrid is released from a mental health facility, she doesn't waste any time. She has a new crush. A celebrity on the internet, Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen).

Ingrid cashes out her late mother's life insurance and takes a trip all the way to California. She just has to be this girl's best friend, whatever obstacles come in her way.

When she gets there, she rents a room from Dan Pinto, (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), who can smell her instability right away. Nevertheless, he lets her have the room, lets her borrow his truck and sleeps with her.

Ingrid knows a lot about Taylor already through her online persona. She knows what she likes, where she lives and who she loves. She uses all this knowledge to squeeze into Taylor's life.

When Taylor's dog goes missing, Ingrid shows up on her doorstep, her beloved dog in Ingrid's arms. From there, Ingrid and Taylor's friendship takes off and then just glows.



They become very close very fast, share intimacy, party together. Taylor even introduces Ingrid to the delights cocaine has to offer.


When some secrets threaten to doom their friendship, things spiral downward very quickly and very hilariously. But we understand both of these characters throughout the film. We root for both of them and feel sorry for both in equal measure. 


Generally, there's only room for one dark comedy celebrated throughout awards season such as The Coen Brothers' "Fargo" in 1996 or Alejandro G. Iñárritu's "Birdman. in 2014." In 2017, out of all the dark comedies like George Clooney's "Suburbicon" and Armando Iannucci's "Death of Stalin," that honor went to Craig Gillespie's "I, Tonya."

"Ingrid Goes West" isn't one of the best Dark Comedies of the year - nor is "I, Tonya" for all that matters, but it's dark as hell and hilarious, while somehow managing to treat its characters with kindness. You can count on this film to entertain you amply for a couple of hours.

Vengeance is Mine - Shohei Imanura (1979)

Iwao Enokuzu deserves a place alongside Travis Bickle and Alex de Large as one of the most commanding and sociopathic antiheroes in cinema.

The way he simply cuts a swath through the lives of everyone he touches, destroying those he seems to care about in his own twisted way, those he detests and those to whom he is indifferent alike.

It is hard to watch because not only because of a vicious murder. We have become accustomed to those. What is painful is the profound betrayal.


You won't know what to make of this film, but I promise you will never forget it.

In what may be one of the most devastating murder scenes I have seen, Iwao starts to strangle a woman who has come to love him, knowing full well that he is on the run for murder.

Her face, as he strangles her is docile, as if she trusts him completely and will accept whatever he feels is best.

But aside from the sickening protagonist, what stands out are the side characters, many of whom are every bit as twisted as Iwao, most notably the killer’s father who wants more than anything to touch his daughter-in-law.

There are so many resonant moments in this film. The scene where the killer’s father buries a puppy alive up to its neck as his daughter-in-law pours boiling water on its head.

The scene where an old woman quietly instructs Iwao not to kill her...and he inexplicably obeys.

But I think my favorite moment in the film is when the father tells his daughter-in-law that he is ready to be carted off to the old folks’ home where he can set in the sun and drool all over himself.

His daughter-in-law tells him that she’ll come to see him every day and lick the drool off his lips.

Part of you is genuinely moved but this level of affection and devotion while the rest of you is just going ‘eeewwwwww.’