28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds... that is when the world will end.
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
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Character
Open-ended, grave, demanding and bleak.
- resolvedopen-ended
- gravecomic
- effortlessdemanding
- warmbleak
- classical in formformally daring
Who loves it, who doesn't
109 profiled raters. Loved most by The Provocateurs; disliked most by The Provocateurs.
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Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Is the ambiguity a cop-out?”
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“Does the time travel hold together?”
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“Is Donnie Darko a masterpiece, not merely a very good film?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Curator Co.'s numbers.
- Andres Gomezon TMDB · Dec 20127/10
Interesting movie with several readings. As with 2001: A Space Odissey, it is needed a reading of the actual explanation for the events to fully understand the original idea ... if you are interested in such explanation ...
Read the whole review on TMDB - Wuchakon TMDB · Dec 20196/10
***Cult flick with sophisticated themes, great cast, but meh story*** Released in 2001 and written/directed by Richard Kelly, "Donnie Darko" is a drama/fantasy starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a troubled California teen dogged by apparitions of a man in an evil rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit several crimes, after he narrowly escapes a peculiar accident concerning a jet engine falling from the sky. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays his sister, Holmes Osborne & Mary McDonnell his parents, Drew Barrymore his teacher, Katharine Ross his therapist, Jena Malone his girlfriend, Noah Wyle his science teacher and Patrick Swayze a self-help guru. Patience Cleveland is on hand as Grandma Death. While the movie flopped at the box office, it has since become a serious cult hit. I saw it recently for the first time and went into it cold without knowing anything about the intricacies behind the plot. The only thing I knew was that the kid was harassed by an ee-vil bunny apparition. The film mildly works as a high school drama with a satirical smirk. But the story's just not engaging enough on that level. While the movie has some quality women, it fails to capitalize on their presence (Barrymore, for
Read the whole review on TMDB - Repo Jackon TMDB · Oct 20209/10
A complete mind-bender of a movie that put Jake Gyllenhall on the map, introduced the creepiest rabbit costume of all time, and may make you surprisingly tear up to a remake of Tears for Fears "Mad World."
Read the whole review on TMDB - Filipe Manuel Netoon TMDB · Jan 20246/10
**A strange film, with a strong visual impact and a script with wild theories, but which fulfills its objective very well and is enjoyable to watch.** I saw this film very recently, and I have to agree with all those who label it “strange” or “bizarre”. Directed and written by Richard Kelly, it stars a young Jake Gyllenhaal and offers us a very complex plot where a young teenager commits several crimes under the influence of an imaginary friend who dresses up as a rabbit. Everything indicates that this young man is schizophrenic or psychotic in some way, and has developed several linked obsessions, but the film always leaves us in doubt as to whether he is, in some way, right about the things he thinks. There are several films that follow similar scripts, where imagination and psychopathy are almost indistinguishable from reality (“Fight Club”, “Machinist”, etc.) and this is perhaps one of the most surreal because it allows us to see, from the beginning, that something is very wrong. That's a bonus for those who like these types of films because it's easy to keep our attention. Of course, those who are less fond of cinematic oddities won't have much reason to be satisfied. And if i
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · Aug 20247/10
Jake Gyllenhaal is the eponymous teenager who just doesn't really fit in. Ever since he was a young child, he has struggled and it's only "Gretchen" (Jena Malone) who has anything to do with him. It's maybe on the psychiatrists couch that he seems most able to relax - under hypnosis - and under that influence we embark on quite a curious learning curve that follows "Donnie" from childhood through the turbulence of his adolescence. Now his development might not have been helped by the arrival of an aircraft engine through his roof, so his body's self defence mechanisms seem to be seeking solace from his friend "Frank". No, he's not real - well not unless life-sized bunnies have escaped up the looking glass, and when he is told that the world will end in just short of one month's time, then it's time to find his psychological TARDIS - or as near as he can. Why did he survive the accident? Well that's the question that continues to plague him as his torments mount and his frustrations begin to manifest themselves in petty criminality and a testing of his relationship with his only real friend "Gretchen". Now I don't know about you, but until now I'd never thought of bunny rabbits as b
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Cast
- Jake GyllenhaalDonnie Darko
- Jena MaloneGretchen Ross
- James DuvalFrank
- Drew BarrymoreKaren Pomeroy
- Beth GrantKitty Farmer
- Maggie GyllenhaalElizabeth Darko
- Mary McDonnellRose Darko
- Holmes OsborneEddie Darko
- Noah WyleProf. Kenneth Monnitoff
- Katharine RossDr. Lilian Thurman
Crew
- Richard KellyDirector
- Richard KellyWriter
- Steven PosterDirector of Photography
- Michael AndrewsOriginal Music Composer
- Sam BauerEditor
- Eric StrandEditor
- Adam FieldsProducer
- Nancy JuvonenProducer
- Sean McKittrickProducer
Where to watch
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Curator Co. Other media included when they land close.
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Twin Peaks 199073% alikeSeries · Both open-ended.
Revolutionary Girl Utena 199773% alikeSeries · Both open-ended.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Curator Co.
