Hello fellow readers,

Today’s blog is on a film I watched recently, and by recent I mean yesterday. I will now tell you of how I came across this film that I consider to be within my top 5 list of movies I love.

One day, while thrifting for dvd’s (I’m a collector of physical media), I came across the film Donnie Darko and asked myself, “I know this name, it sounds familiar. Where have I heard of it?” After reading the synopsis and looking online I was unable to figure out where I knew it from, but films and books circulate online all the time so it must have been while I was scrolling through social media. As it turns out, Donnie Darko is considered a cult classic, which is a movie (not always), that has a loyal and avid fanbase, but the it is not considered mainstream. I decided to buy it and it sat on my shelf for weeks until I finally decided to watch it. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Read with CAUTION (spoilers ahead). (All images used are from the film)

Donnie Darko is a science fiction, psychological thriller, American cult classic of the 2000s, written and directed by Richard Kelly. “After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes” (IMDb, 2001).

This description raises eyebrows and I thought it was weird after reading it, so I prepared myself for the worst, anything that I saw in the movie would not surprise me. Well…. nothing surprised me while watching, but the days after was a different story.

Firstly, the film begins with the prophecy of the end of the world. Donnie is told that the world will end in exactly 28 days by the man in the rabbit suit called Frank, and the events leading up to this are quite ambiguous due to the nature and narrative structure of how, why and what happens (the film was also made within 28 days, providing authenticity to the character and narrative structure, which I find to be very fascinating). The protagonist escapes a freak accident of an air craft engine crashing directly into his room, but due to his sleepwalking, Donnie is not there when it occurs. The character of Frank is introduced here, and his role has been interpreted by many as: a God like figure, Fate, a hallucination, a fragment of Donnie’s schizophrenia and mental health, to name a few. The film discusses multiple themes and aspects related to the science fiction and philosophy of time travel, moral questions and sacrifice for the greater good.

In the article “A phenomenological approach to Donnie Darko”, Blazer states that the viewer can identify, “with the protagonist’s bleary-eyed disorientation, for at times the film seems to take place in Donnie’s dreamy, schizophrenic mind and at other times, it feels real, like a world in science fiction film. Not only is reality in question, but moral philosophy as well” (Blazer, pg. 208). Frank tells Donnie to commit a series of crimes, leading up to the end of the world, he floods his school and commits arson by burning down the house of a motivational speaker whose ideas and philosophy he did not agree with, and he commits murder towards the end. However, these crimes can be viewed as manipulation by Frank in order to correct and prevent the collapse of the tangent universe they seem to live in. Donnie believes that what he is doing is good for the world and that his ultimate goal is to save the world/universe. I would argue that these crimes are an allegory for the chaotic, destructive and nihilistic nature of adolescence, especially by a troubled teenager, who visibly struggles with his mental and psychological health.

As the title of this blog suggests, the mind-bending ambiguity centres around the concept of time travel and its portrayal in the film. When analysing, several interpretations are discussed, such as Donnie living in a tangent universe, one that takes place in the future as he experiences the life he could have by choosing to live rather than die. This might sound confusing, but the overall narrative of the film is the destiny of Donnie and the outcome of the world, if he were to live or die, basically the film shows us life when he is alive, and the impact this has on the lives of his loved ones. The ending teaches that sacrifice leads to the character’s salvation. The film is so interesting and has a loyal fan-base following due to the fact that hardly anything is explained, why it happens, why the ending of the world revolves around Donnie and why the character of Frank exists, but I will try to explain and interpret it the best that I can…

As mentioned before, we can view Frank as a God-like figure, who gives Donnie a second chance at life, yes, it might be a rather unfortunate one, but by doing this, he is able to understand that his death is inevitable and his sacrifice needs to be made. In this universe he experiences love, friendship, and heroism, so that his life is not considered wasted.

Let’s take a completely different approach and interpret Donnie’s character similarly to that of Jesus Christ. What do these two have in common? They were both sent to a universe to save the world and make sacrifices on their own. They are guided by an omnipresent being; their destiny is to die saving those they love. There were people who thought that Jesus was insane/crazy for preaching as the son of God and hearing his voice, of course, it might be a bit blasphemous to label Christ as experiencing schizophrenia, but for the context of making a connection with the film, I would say it is possible that they both share this quality, of listening to a voice and seeing someone no one else can.

Towards the end of the film Donnie shoots Frank and kills him after his girlfriend is killed, I think, perhaps this was destined to happen all along. When the order of the universe is corrected, we see Frank alive without the rabbit costume. This would mean that the events already occurred and instead of Donnie time-traveling to the future, it is Frank that travels back in time to prevent his death and Donnie’s demise of committing murder and losing his loved ones. This may all be a lot of information thrown at you, but interpreting the ambiguity of the film is what makes it so loved by viewers.

The beginning of the end scene is my favourite, when the 28 days are over and the tangent universe comes to an end, we see Donnie waking up in bed and smiling to himself, as he stays in bed. These few seconds determine his fate, whether he chooses life or death. He wakes up right before the jet engine crashes into his room, a moment of chance an decision that can alter the universe. The ending and Donnie’s death was not sad, as the audience followed him along his journey of accepting his fate and so we, like Donnie have come to accept that this is a sacrifice that needs to be made.

Would I recommend watching this film?

Yes, definitely.

If you decide to watch it, there are actually two versions, the original movie and the director’s cut that includes everything the director intended to include, but was cut from the original due to many different reasons. I would recommend watching the director’s cut as it explains more and the viewer has a better understanding of the events, but there is also the feeling of loss and confusion while watching the original. It depends on personal preference, really, but if you do watch it, let me know how it goes and your thoughts.

Works Cited:

Donnie Darko, directed and written by Richard Kelly. 2001. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/

Blazer, Alex E. “A phenomenological approach to Donnie Darko“. Edinburgh University Press, vol. 19, issue 1, 2015.