Instalife

The plot line and comedy/drama categorisation do not reveal much when it comes to this film. It is a good thing since it offers more than you would hope for. I would say it is more of a drama than a comedy, there are some quite serious issues covered in this story.

Aubrey Plaza is great as Ingrid, she managed to find a nice balance between being unhinged, vulnerable, obsessed and yet her familiar facial expressions will sometimes still make you laugh.

I believe that the obsession with social media was portrayed nicely here, I am sure you all know or knew someone who is practically glued to their phone and can't imagine lasting a day without it. Instagram, Facebook and other media can really make a person feel a bit depressed since everyone seems happy all the time, they eat at nice restaurants, travel to nice places, go to great parties where in reality it is all a bit phony which is another thing that this film shows. There are not many people who would post something sad because they are having a bad day or are going through a rough patch, the fear of being judged is always present and it would break the balance of everything being seemingly perfect with everyone. If you combine that with a troubled personality or a mental illness, the results can be pretty bad. And that basically describes Ingrid.

It is a solid indie film with good performances and something to think about.

There is a LOT of weird hate in these reviews for very strange things that kinda aren't even aspects of the movie? Nothing about the shots or scenes appears particularly "cheap" or "cringe", despite what some have said - it looks the same as any other current movie. The bad reviews stink of violated expectations and not much else. You were hoping for some more Parks & Rec or something? This just happens to be a really dark movie about mental illness and isn't maybe as quirky and cutesy as a lot of people were hoping. But review the thing for what it is, not what you were expecting it to be based on seeing one actor's face on the cover. The whole thing was actually really believable and wasn't afraid to get dark and uncomfortable in order to actualize. I was ill-at-ease the whole time, too, but, ah, it's about an unpredictable stalker, so it's kinda supposed to make you feel that way. Not perfect by any means, but I quite admire how dark and honest it is.

I wonder at some of the savage reviews this film got on IMDb. It is no candidate for an Oscar but it is a pretty adequate description of the social media scene, has a reasonably ingenious script and is well acted. I describe it as a semi-black comedy because, very appropriately in an environment where nothing es what it appears to be, it is funny but not totally funny, a little tragic but not as much as it could be. Worth spending a while looking at it.

While this movie might end up looking obsolete in a few years depending on where technology goes, sociologically, it's damn on point and prescient. Not so much funny as dark and disturbing, it did a good job of showing how empty everyone was, even the so-called "heroes." The ending was a nice touch as well.

So I've just seen this movie and I can say that it is somehow disturbing and I had an unpleasant feeling during the movie. This is an actual issue these days. I think that the final point of the movie was that it's actually all about that one person that loves you (and in this case: saves you). Important movie. Something has to be done because technology is taking over and it's just not worth it.