Donnie Darko

I was really excited to watch Richard Kelly's directorial debut, Donnie Darko, despite having no clue what it was about. What little I did know about this sci-fi/horror/psychological thriller/indie spoke to me. Darkness in middle-class suburbia? Tick. Adolescent A-listers before their glorious rise to fame? Tick. Little bit scary, little bit weird? Tick. Donnie Darko left me (ironically) in a sort of trance; loaded with unhinged social commentary, disorientating narration, chilling depictions of mental health and iconic imagery, this one truly made a mark.

Donnie Darko follows a month in the life of Donnie, a young adult troubled by various mental health issues. As the film's opening shot pans across a wide mountain pass, we see Donnie lying asleep on the road. As the sun rises, he awakes and wanders home, baffled. Set in American suburbia, the familiar picket fences, manicured lawns and pristine homes splay out infront of us. We are introduced to the Darko family, a seemingly mundane nuclear family living in quiet prosperity. Amongst the relative ease of family life, Donnie stands out at the dinner table: jerky, crude and hot-headed, his presence disturbs the frivolity of mealtime chatter.

As Donnie lies asleep one night, a deranged voice rings out, "Wake up, Donnie." In a trance, he rises and exits the house, where a demonic bunny figure waits for him. "Twenty-eight days, six hours, forty-two minutes, twelve seconds. That is when the world will end," the rabbit warns. Soon after Donnie's departure, the house is rocked by an unknown source. The cause? A jet engine has fallen through the roof, destroying Donnie's bedroom - a bizarre, but brilliantly arresting image. Things only get stranger when we discover that the rest of the plane has mysteriously disappeared. Donnie, who has woken up on a golf course, has miraculously cheated death.

A brilliantly befuddling start on all accounts. Donnie Darko meddles with notes of horror, sci-fi, apocalypse and a pinch of satire. We don't quite know how to feel or what sort of film we are watching... and it's quite brilliant. Dennis Kelly dives in headfirst and will not come up to take a breath until the credits roll.

High School in Donnie Darko seems to absorb the same disorienting multi-facetedness, depicting classic tropes such as cliques and bullying, with the addition of teens doing lines of coke in the hallways. Did I attend a nunnery from the ages of eleven to eighteen, or is this a heavy lean towards the absurd? Donnie's two geeky mates, Ronald and Sean, do provide moments of comic relief (including a hilarious debate on Smurf anatomy), yet they appear more as a shallow facade to prop up plot points, notably that of gun use.

The dysfunction continues when Frank (the bunny) reappears and we glimpse an entranced Donnie wielding an axe. Frank has become well-known in cinema iconography, and for good reason. The pairing of a fluffy bunny costume with a ghoulish mask evokes the comfort of a cuddly toy and the horror of a nightmare - this contradiction will mirror Donnie's torn relationship with Frank, a figure he simultaneously fears and reveres.

The next morning, the school has been flooded and the axe sits ceremoniously wedged into the head of a bronze statue. The 'prank' transcends childish humour, implicating a powerful, supernatural element at play. Donnie Darko taunts us with the possibility that these paranoid hallucinations may actually be something very real. In many ways, the film's deceptive narration places the viewer alongside Donnie, desperately seeking the truth before it is too late.

It's only right to add teenage romance to this chaotic adolescence. Gretchen (Jena Malone) is the new kid at school with a tragic backstory - her father stabbed her mother, forcing them to flee and adopt new identities. After revealing her traumatic past to Donnie, the two immediately begin dating; Donnie seems instinctively drawn to Gretchen, subconsciously lusting after the darkness that resides in her. As Frank makes more frequent returns, Donnie's therapist suggests that Donnie is suffering from daylight hallucinations, a common symptom of paranoid schizophrenia.

"Donnie Darko, what the hell kind of name is that? It's like some sort of superhero," Gretchen remarks. "What makes you think I'm not?" retorts Donnie. Donnie certainly sees himself as a saviour figure, destined to prevent the reckoning at all costs. Whilst he repeatedly denies religious belief, Donnie's actions steer towards the biblical: floods, doomsday prophecies, things falling from the sky. When Gretchen mentions a project about 'The Greatest Invention To Ever Benefit Mankind', Donnie immediately suggests antiseptics - perhaps a nod to pestilence?

"They are in great danger," Frank warns as Donnie gazes at him through a mirror, "Do you believe in time travel?" The mirror imagery blatantly implies that Frank is a self-realisation of Donnie, a physical embodiment of the darkest parts of his pysche. I would suggest, however, that Kelly makes the symbolism too explicit and the scene overall plays a tad corny. Subsequently, Donnie attempts to prevent the end of the world, frantically studying time travel via wormholes. These biblical references clash violently with Donnie's 'scientific' endeavours, intensifying his frantic delirium. It is at this point that Donnie Darko derails for a moment, losing the chilling momentum of the story to convoluted narrative and vague additional characters.

Meanwhile, Jim Cunningham (an unscrupulous motivational speaker) lectures the children at school, suggesting that their problems may be healed by accepting God's love. During an assembly, Donnie seizes the mic, challenging Jim's superficially moralistic teachings. He encourages a bullied child to take action and learn karate rather than rely on vague platitudes. He concludes his monologue by naming Jim himself as 'the Antichrist'. Donnie's outburst reflects a profound disillusionment within youth culture, criticising adults that trivialise the anxieties of young people. The theme is strong, but is complicated by Donnie's supportive parents, who pay for his therapy and actively seek help for him. Rather than weaken the film's message, the dynamic reflects the complexity of caring for someone suffering with mental health issues.

At the cinema with a sleeping Gretchen, Frank returns and instructs Donnie to set fire to Jim Cunningham's house. Donnie carries out the arson before quietly returning to the cinema. It seems improbable that Donnie was able to commit the act without Gretchen noticing, but the film's surrealism is in full swing, propping up a few illogical plot points along the way. The arson is particularly violent, but is surprisingly redeemed when child pornography is uncovered from the wreckage. Donnie's rebellious act suddenly takes on a retributive, omnipotent form, further validating his quest to save the world.

As the film draws to a close, Donnie's hallucinations escalate. At a house party, he witnesses a particularly funny floating translucent worm weaving its way through the partygoers; the CGI in Donnie Darko is often, unfortunately, a comical diversion from the dramatic heart of the story. Perhaps, 25 years on, you could argue that it's camp... I'm not sure, though.

The halloween party is the perfect catalyst for Donnie's breakdown, filled with costumes, deception and disguise. Disturbed by the increased paranormal presence at the house, he and Gretchen flee. Outside, they are jumped by two thugs and Donnie has a knife held to his throat. As they wrestle on the floor, Donnie grunts 'deus ex machina' (god from the machine). After some research, this is a plot device in which 'a seemingly unsolvable conflict is... resolved by the unexpected, improbable intervention of an outside force.' It checks out: the following sequence of events is baffling: a car speeds into view, running over and killing Gretchen and sending the thugs running. The driver (named Frank) steps out, wearing the familiar bunny costume. Beneath the ghoulish mask... a boy a similar age to Donnie. Donnie immediately draws a gun and shoots him dead.

The scene is purposefully disorienting, making the 'deus ex machina' quote crucial: is the entire sequence a figment of Donnie's imagination? The illogical stream of events can only be explained by an untrustworthy, psychosis-induced narration.

Catatonic, Donnie takes Gretchen's dead body to a viewpoint and watches as the horizon transforms into an apocalypse - the final reckoning has begun. Donnie sighs with relief as a portal rips open the sky, sucking in a passing aeroplane. We see Donnie's life displayed in reverse as he muses, "I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to." Donnie's personal odyssey has reached its conclusion.

Finally, the mysterious jet engine reappears, smashing through Donnie's ceiling and killing him. As the iconic tune of 'Mad World' plays, the fallout of the disaster is laid bare. Donnie's family stand outside the house, devastated, as Gretchen cycles past. When Donnie's name is mentioned, we see a faint glint of recollection in her eyes. Again, the film toys with the idea that just maybe, the past 90 minutes haven't been a figment of imagination at all.

The conclusion of Donnie Darko is brilliantly confounding. An obvious interpretation is that the entire film is an extended metaphor for Donnie's schizophrenic breakdown. In this case, it isn't a jet engine that kills Donnie, but rather a suicide. His doomsday mission? A frantic attempt to give his death meaning. However, Kelly refuses to provide such a clear-cut ending: the brilliantly dire world-building of Donnie Darko, combined with Gyllenhaal's sensational performance, invites a more romantic interpretation. Was this 90-minute rollercoaster a product of Donnie's delusions? Or was his sacrifice bound to some fractured, futuristic timeline beyond human comprehension? By going back in time, does Donnie repair the rift set in motion when he first cheated death, thereby preventing the end of mankind? Kelly's stupifying tale gives credence to either possibility.

Donnie Darko's fearless experimentation with genre, narrative and style leaves its legacy in a liminal space, where interpretation varies wildly from viewer to viewer. There are countless tidbits worth further exploration that I have not managed to fit into this review, not least the character of Miss Pomeroy. Even weeks after watching it, I feel myself oscillating between the realms of realism and surrealism. The film revels in its impenetrable ambiguity and refuses to make sense of its contradictions and unsolved plotlines. In making huge stylistic and conceptual swings, Donnie Darko is one of those films that has left me slightly in awe. I will be seeking out more films like it.

7.9/10

Yours sincerely,

The Film Buff