Donnie Darko - I don't understand it. Does anyone??

Question

This movie was haunting, but yet I feel as if I'm missing something. Can anyone give me their take on this movie?

Particularly the ending where the Mom is almost smiling, and she waves to the girlfriend (who has not yet him yet)...

Answer 1

I think that many people get this feeling watching the movie. and you are supposed to.

you are supposed to feel disconnected, disjointed, and left questioning, what is the nature of reality? Do we actually know the nature of reality? What if I did this, what would happen?

It brings into question the ideas about time, reality, and our place in the world.

Have you ever felt like you were missing somethign important? You didn't fit in, you felt left out... that is what it means to a lot of people.

I think the ending of the movie has signficance because he chooses to die. Maybe, he realizes that if he lives, the people he loves dies. he makes that choice. His life for his mom, his sister, the woman he comes to love.

What i find very haunting is who is awake/and asleep when he dies. And how they are all connected. I often wonder what happened to those characters the next day.

Wikipedia has this to say about it According to Kelly and his Philosophy of Time Travel, at midnight on October 2 a Tangent Universe branches off the Primary Universe around the time when Donnie is called out of his bedroom by Frank, immediately before the appearance of the Artifact, the faulty jet engine. The inherently unstable Tangent Universe will collapse in just over 28 days and take the Primary Universe with it if not corrected. Closing the Tangent Universe is the duty of the Living Receiver, Donnie, who wields certain supernatural powers to help him in the task.

Those who have died/will die within the Tangent Universe (and would not have died otherwise) are the Manipulated Dead (Frank and Gretchen). Manipulated Dead Frank, at least, is also given certain powers in that he is able to subtly understand what is happening and have the ability to contact and influence the Living Receiver via the Fourth Dimensional Construct (water). All others within the orbit of the Living Receiver are the Manipulated Living (e.g. Ms. Pomeroy, Dr. Monnitoff), subconsciously drawn to push him towards his destiny to close the Tangent Universe and, according to the Philosophy of Time Travel, die by the Artifact.

There are two "Franks" in the story: the living boyfriend of Donnie's sister Elizabeth, and the Manipulated Dead Frank who appears to Donnie as a premonition from the future in the disturbing rabbit suit (the second Frank is dead, or undead; at the end of the film he is killed by Donnie). Dead Frank is aware of Donnie's fate and destiny.

Answer 2

He is given his life but also given the secret to time travel. After seeing the outcome of the days leading to the end of the earth (the mother/daughter plane crash at the end) he chooses to end life without experiencing all the tragedy and decided that the least harm to other's would be his death by the engine. People would have suffered more by his living.

Answer 3

I saw it around 3 times, and NEVER got the hang of it! :S