Igby Goes Down is a 2002 American comedy-drama film that follows the life of Igby Slocumb, a rebellious and sardonic teenager who attempts to break free of his familial ties and wealthy, overbearing mother. The film was written and directed by Burr Steers, and stars Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum, Susan Sarandon, Amanda Peet, Ryan Phillippe, Bill Pullman and Jared Harris. It was given a limited theatrical release through United Artists on September 13, 2002, in the United States, and received generally positive reviews from critics. Culkin and Sarandon received Golden Globe nominations for their performances. Plot Jason "Igby" Slocumb Jr. is a misanthropic 17-year-old boy, rebelling against the oppressive world of his strict East Coast "old money" family. His schizophrenic father, Jason has been committed to an institution. Igby fears that he will eventually suffer a mental breakdown like his father. His mother, Mimi, is self-absorbed and distant and tends to drink heavily. Igby mockingly describes his ambitious older brother Ollie as a fascist or a Young Republican, and that he studies "neo-fascism" (economics) at Columbia University. Igby figures that there must be a better life out there, and he sets out to find it, rebelling against his family at every opportunity. After happily flunking out of several prep schools, he ends up in a brutal military academy where he gets beaten by his classmates. After escaping and spending time in a Chicago hotel courtesy of his mother's credit card, Igby is sent to New York for the summer to stay with his godfather, successful real estate magnate D. H. Banes. While working construction for D. H., Igby first encounters Rachel, his godfather's Edie Sedgwick-influenced, heroin-addicted trophy mistress. Rather than return to school, he escapes into the bohemian underworld of Manhattan, hiding out with Rachel and her performance artist friend Russel at her studio owned by D. H. Eventually, he and Rachel have sex. After being found at the studio by D. H. and getting beaten up by Rachel for jeopardizing her living arrangements, he hooks up with terminally bored, part-time lover, Sookie, only for her to later leave him for Ollie. Despite seeming cold and distant, Mimi is not unaffected by her rebellious son. She describes Igby's conception as an act of animosity and therefore believes that it shouldn't be a surprise that his life follows the same course. His name is explained as a family in-joke.