In a world where terms are thrown around like “creeper” and “Facebook stalker,” the film “Ingrid Goes West” shows how literal social media slang can be.

Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen) and Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) pose for a photo in “Ingrid Goes West.” (photo courtesy of NEON)

Released in theaters Aug. 11, “Ingrid Goes West” is a dark comedy that explores our obsession with social media, reminding us that people often only share the best versions of themselves online.

The film focuses on Ingrid Thorburn, a millennial who has recently been through a lot. She lost her mother, who was her best friend, and was later admitted into a psychiatric hospital after stalking, and attacking, her friend Charlotte. But don’t be fooled – Ingrid hasn’t recovered.

After leaving the hospital, she promptly returns to her old ways. Rather than focusing on Charlotte, Ingrid discovers a new obsession: Taylor Sloane, an Instagram celebrity who seems to have a great life in Los Angeles with her husband, Ezra, and their dog, Rothko.

Ingrid, with a new focus on Taylor and $60,000 from her mother’s estate, develops a new plan: move to California. In her new state, Ingrid starts her new Instagram account, ingridgoeswest.

Ingrid does what anyone would do in a new town – stalks Taylor until Ingrid finds her house, steals Taylor’s dog and then responds to the advertisement that Rothko has gone missing. This prompts Taylor and husband Ezra to invite Ingrid into their home for dinner.

And that’s what starts a beautiful friendship – well, a beautiful friendship for the audience to watch go down in flames.

Ingrid is played by Aubrey Plaza, a familiar face to “Parks and Recreation” fans as the unenthusiastic April Ludgate. Plaza’s performance is raw, painfully funny and honest. The way Plaza depicts Ingrid’s obsessions, and h­­­­er pain, will stay with you far beyond the theater.

Meanwhile, actress Elizabeth Olsen is obnoxiously believable as Taylor, a reminder of that girl you follow on Instagram because she seems to live at the beach and take beautiful photographs of her food – all complete with deep quotes. Olsen delivers many fake laughs on screen that delight viewers off screen.

Premiering in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, “Ingrid Goes West” was the winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.

Director Matt Spicer studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.

He wrote “Ingrid Goes West” with David Branson Smith, who worked as an assistant to Mike White on “Enlightened,” an HBO series that also features a self-destructive woman.

The film reminds viewers that people generally only post online about their best days.

No one in the film is who they present on social media. Ingrid is not well. Taylor is far from having the blissful marriage she tells her fans about. Taylor’s brother Nicky isn’t sober, although Taylor likes to pretend he is. And Ingrid’s Batman-obsessed boyfriend Dan is not Batman – although he might have earned the title, as he was much like a superhero for Ingrid.

In a heated moment, when every bit of what she thought would make her happy is failing, Ingrid tells Taylor bluntly that Taylor isn’t any better than her. And although Taylor rejects that narrative, it’s hard not to cock your head in this moment.

Because the moment that Ingrid’s friendship is no longer useful, Taylor moves on to another pretend relationship with Harley Chung, a fashion designer with one million Instagram followers, which Taylor views as a gold mine. (But they’re like totally friends)

Set in Los Angeles, the film takes harmless, funny jabs at the city and its residents, many of whom live similarly to the main characters.

After seeing Taylor post about avocado toast from a restaurant called Grateful Kitchen, Ingrid visits to order the same meal. Upon her arrival, an employee asks Ingrid the restaurant’s question of the day: “What’s your biggest emotional wound?”

Anyone who has visited a Café Gratitude location likely laughs especially hard at this joke. And the answer to that question of the day is revealed in this hour and 37-minute film.

One disappointment of the film is – like many movies with a plot involving mental illness – Ingrid’s actual diagnosis is never revealed. We are left to wonder whether Ingrid was grief ridden after losing her mother, and that’s what caused her mental break – or if she also has an underlying mental illness.

Characters throughout the film use stigmatizing language when referring to mental illness. Early in the film, Ingrid is at a grocery store when a fellow shopper recognizes her and, while talking into her cell phone, notes that she thought Ingrid was in an “insane asylum.” As Ingrid leaves the grocery store, she keys the woman’s car.

Later in the film, she’s called a “psycho,” and when Ingrid’s plan for a life of friendship with Taylor is going especially poorly, Taylor asks Ingrid if she is “actually insane.”

However, because of the stigma that still exists around mental illnesses, the character’s usage of these terms are, unfortunately, in line with how callous people might actually be toward Ingrid.

The film does a fair job depicting a psychiatric hospital. Rather than using the stereotypical scene where Ingrid would be in a straight-jacket in a padded room, Spicer chose to depict Ingrid in what inpatient treatment often resembles, with group therapy, yoga and other monotonous activities.

And sadly, when Ingrid leaves the hospital, she stops taking her medicine and doesn’t appear to have any follow-up appointments with a therapist – again, a realistic depiction of how someone who suffers a mental health crisis is too often not connected with additional care.

Instead, Ingrid returns to what’s comfortable: stalking a woman her age and mistaking that for friendship.

You spend much of the film wondering when Ingrid will get caught. Is it the moment she’s in Taylor’s bathroom, photographing all of her beauty products? Is it when she’s taking a selfie with a sleeping Taylor? Or when Nicky asks her, “Where’s your imaginary boyfriend?”

In the end, Ingrid must face how to respond when her carefully built facade crashes down.

After leaving the theater, you can turn your phone off silent mode and see what you’ve missed on social media.

But this film asks, do you really want to?

Film critic Tim ­Posada is away from the office on paternity leave until late September. Reporter Jaclyn Cosgrove is working in his stead, reviewing films until his return.