‘Ingrid Goes West’ Red Band Trailer Is Hashtag Perfect

“A stalker movie for the social media era” — that’s how our editor-in-chief Matt Singer described Ingrid Goes West in his review from the Sundance film festival back in January. That idea is only somewhat insinuated in this tightly edited (and tightly wound) red band teaser for the upcoming film, starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen in what might also be described as a modern cautionary tale for millennials with smart phones grafted to their hands.

Plaza cuts a familiar figure as Inrgid: Regressive, self-destructive, coping with the recent loss of her mom. And, like so many members of the generation raised on the internet and iPhones, she finds it easy to fixate on and obsess over the lives of others. So when Ingrid finds social media celeb Taylor Sloane (Olsen) on Instagram, she indulges in some classic Single White Female behavior to turn Taylor into her new BFF. Things…well, they don’t quite work out for Ingrid.

I know it’s just a teaser, but the rhythm and attitude of it beautifully reflects the film’s subject matter in a way that reminds me of something like Spring Breakers. Ingrid Goes West is one of my most highly-anticipated films of 2017, and thankfully, we won’t have to wait much longer to check it out. (In the meantime, if you haven’t given Legion a spin yet, you should catch up with the first season on FX. Plaza is currently delivering some of her finest work.)

The film also stars Wyatt Russell and O’Shea Jackson Jr., and hits theaters on August 4.