Can you explain Donnie Darko?

Question

I watched Donnie Darko for the first time a few days ago. I liked it, but I really didn't get it. Can anyone explain what happened?

Answer 1

Frank is a friend of Donnie's sister who come back from the future to help guide Donnie into saving the world from coming to an end. What happens in the film from the moment Frank first says "Wake up" is happening in a 'tangent universe', meaning an alternate reality.

It's a twisted story of Christ (I think). Frank is supposed to be an angel watching over Donnie - when he wakes Donnie up to meet him for the first time, after Donnie gets out of bed the camera pans up to film a poster of an angel. Also after the jet engine has crashed into his room, Donnie's dad talks about a guy who'd been killed when they we kids (incidentally that guy was called Frank, but I'm not exactly sure what that signifies) in a similar freak accident, and Donnie's dad says that Donnie "must have someone watching over him". Donnie is supposed to represent Christ, because he has to travel back in time and sacrifice himself in order to save the world, and Frank guides him along the way, with the acts Frank persuades Donnie to commit along the way proof of Frank's power (eg When Donnie burns down the house, the child porn stash is found). Also, when Donnie walks out of the cinema to burn the house, a sign shows a film called "The Last Temptation of Christ", showing that this was the last act Donnie (christ) would have to commit before his final sacrifice.

I'm not completely sure about this theory, what I just wrote was what I thought having seen the original version of the film, but the director's cut put it in a different light. It gave more details of Roberta Sparrow's book (The Philosophy of Time Travel) which suggested that Frank was only doing it to save himself, and persuading Donnie to kill himself to "save the world" was a trick so that Frank could survive. It also explains how Donnie was able to move back in time. (This was because he was a 'Living Manipulated' according to the book and had the power to control water and metal (there's a scene when he looks at the sprinklers and they suddenly turn off - when he finds Jim Cunningham's wallet). He is also able to create a wormhole because Frank has given him that power - remember Frank telling Donnie he "can do anything [he] wants", and that Donnie can too, and then later showing Donnie how to create a wormhole in the cinema. So Donnie now has a wormhole and the ability to move metal faster than the speed of light - which, if you remember the conversation with his Physics teacher, are the two things he needs to create a rift in time.

I probably just confused you more, try watching it again after reading this. Every time you watch this film you will notice something new, understand one more thing, but you'll also probably find another thing not to understand.

Answer 2

What Is Donnie Darko About

Answer 3

well u see..frank the giant bunny rabbit is really from the future! Donnie killed this guy called frank on hallowe'en and he was dressed in a bunny costume. So when Donnie kills him at the end he realises this. So he goes back in time as he realisse that none of this would have happened if he had died at the start!(remeber when he was woken up by frank and then the plane landed in his bedroom!)

I know that sounds very complicated and if u want me to explain it better than just e-mail me! k?

Answer 4

I've also watched Donnie Darko for the first time recently, what I got was that if it's your time to die then it's your time to die, the film showed what the implications would be if you could escape death.

Answer 5

The film is about predetermination and how Darko experiences a future where by cheating death himself, his girlfriend dies. Therefore he allows himself to die to stop that future from happening, breaking his predetermined route. If you look at most of the characters in the film they all are set in predetermined routes and the message I take from the film is, that we all assume that we are going down a certain route but we all have the ability to change that even in small ways.

Answer 6

the crash of the turbine creates a "tangent universe". from the crash on everything is set in this universe, which will collapse and destroy the "real" universe in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds.
Donnie is "the chosen one" and all others are manipulated to induce him whith different actions and statements to close the "tangent universe" again. in the end donnie sacrifices himself to save everyone else - especially frank and gretchen, who are dead in the "tangent universe".

Answer 7

Donnie misses being killed and they show how having him alive affects the lives of others. He goes back in time to make sure he is killed to change the course of time. It is goes along the idea that when a butterfly flaps its wing in one part of the world it causes a tsunami in another.

Answer 8

The poor chap in the film suffers from a schizophrenic illness and is troubled by hallucinations which manifest in the form of the big rabbit thing.

Answer 9

I have no idea either, but it's supposed to be something about a rift in time and showing how life could have been if fate gets messed with (shouldn't he have been killed by the jet crashing through his roof)
Either that or it's...oh sod it, I don't know.
Sorry.

Answer 10

I haven't watched it for a while, and I can't remember too well. If no one can answer this, just watch it a couple more times and it should start to make sense.