Review of Ingrid Goes West (2017) by Kailey G — 11 Jan 2018

This movie is so unbelievably frustrating. Not only is the protagonist extremely difficult to relate to, but the so-called "punchlines" are completely unfunny. The topic of mental illness is VERY touchy for many people, and I don't feel that the subject matter of this film was well-handled at all.

Ingrid embodies the stereotype for anyone ever deemed "insane", and the suicide scene at the end was a) completely predictable and b) totally unnecessary. People went insane over 13 Reasons Why for "glorifying suicide", and nobody seems to see the same problem here.

The ending makes NO SENSE in the context of the film, and though it is supposedly "hopeful", portraying Ingrid's friend as the "savior" at the end was complete BS. Think about all the teens who could potentially be struggling with similar issues in this age of social media, and struggle with problems similar to Ingrid's.

The film was wrapped up incredibly poorly, and it could be so easy to misinterpret the message of the film as supportive of suicide, since the cinematographic elements of that scene were beautiful. I was able to tell that it was a satire, but for many other teenagers who are not as well-read, the message could easily be misconstrued.

Suicide is a NASTY thing, and should be represented as such in the media. Absolutely disgusting.