Curator Watchlist
A sharp, acidic coming-of-age dramedy about a privileged kid trying to outrun his family, his class, and his own self-destruction. It’s uneven in places, but the voice, performances, and bitter comic edge make it memorable.
Where to watch: Buy
Fri · 1h 37m
Director: Burr Steers
Starring: Kieran Culkin, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum
Igby Slocumb, a rebellious and sarcastic 17-year-old boy, is at war with the stifling world of old money privilege he was born into. With a schizophrenic father, a self-absorbed, distant mother, and a shark-like young Republican big brother, Igby figures there must be a better life out there -- and sets about finding it.
Burr Steers
Kieran Culkin, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum
A sharp, acidic coming-of-age dramedy about a privileged kid trying to outrun his family, his class, and his own self-destruction. It’s uneven in places, but the voice, performances, and bitter comic edge make it memorable.
Igby Goes Down is a bratty, wounded, and often very funny portrait of a teenager trying to escape the suffocating absurdity of his upper-class family. It has the snap of a smart indie comedy, but underneath the wit is a real sense of damage: bad parenting, emotional neglect, and the kind of privilege that feels more like a prison than a gift.
Kieran Culkin gives the movie its restless center, playing Igby as both insufferable and sympathetic, which is exactly the balance the film needs. The supporting cast helps sell the world of polished dysfunction, and the movie’s best passages land when it lets the character’s sarcasm turn into something more revealing and sad.
It’s not a perfect film, and some of its early-2000s indie mannerisms show, but it has a distinct voice and a strong streak of bitterness that still plays well. If you like your coming-of-age stories with bite, class anxiety, and a lead who seems determined to self-sabotage every exit route, this one is worth the trip.
amelia (4.5★) · 3376 likes
lady bird for girls who are psychosexually obsessed with roman roy
fátima (4★) · 2512 likes
kieran culkin if you see this i am free on thursday. if you want to hang out with me on thursday when i am free please respond and come over when i am free on thursday so we can hang out on thursday when i am free
emma (3.5★) · 2267 likes
need to trap kieran culkin in a cup like a bug
AlexaScheer (3★) · 1633 likes
It’s just home alone 2 but with sex and clinical depression
nora🐮 (4★) · 1598 likes
go little roman roy go
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coming-of-age, family dysfunction, upper-class privilege, class resentment, alienation, emotional neglect, rebellion, self-destruction
coming-of-age, dark comedy, dramedy, upper-class satire, family dysfunction, alienation, rebellion, early 2000s, cynical, indie