Life is one long insane trip. Some people just have better directions.
-------------------------
You can never go too far.
-------------------------
What would you do if you knew the future?
-------------------------
Be Afraid of the Dark
-------------------------
Dark. Darker. Darko.
-------------------------
Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
-------------------------

The plot of Donnie Darko is somewhat confusing (hence the existence of numerous web sites and message boards discussing the movie), and much of it deals with
existentialism and includes
paradoxes that are never explained. As such, multiple interpretations exist.
The film is set in 1988, an
election year, in the community of Middlesex,
Virginia.
In the middle of the night, on
October 2,
1988, Donnie is awakened from his sleep by a strange voice and led outside his house where he converses with a demonic-looking, man-sized rabbit named
Frank who tells him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. (There are many theories as to why this number was chosen. Some believe that it relates to the amount of time the moon takes to orbit around the Earth [29 days, 5 hours, 41 minutes and 11 seconds], but no confirmation of this has been attained. Another theory is that once the numbers are added together (28+6+42+12) it gives 88 which is the year the film is set.) After waking up on the
golf course the next morning, Donnie returns home to discover that a huge
jet engine has fallen from the sky and into his bedroom. So begins a series of events which bring together Donnie and a young woman named Gretchen.
There is an early indication of Donnie's mental illness (specifically
psychosis) when his sister accuses him of not taking his medication. Donnie continues to see Frank and begins to see "liquid spears" emerging from people's chests, the paths of which indicate the actions those people will undertake in the immediate future. Whether this is indicative of mental illness,
science fiction, or both, is left to the viewer.
Richard Kelly has made his own thoughts clear through the audio commentaries on the two DVDs, the included
Philosophy of Time Travel, and in various interviews. His intended plot is as follows: At midnight a tangent universe spins off of the Primary Universe, signified by the appearance of an Artifact; here represented by a jet engine. Tangent Universes are inherently unstable and will collapse in less than a month, taking the Primary Universe with it, if not closed off. Closing the Tangent Universe is the duty of the
Living Receiver (Donnie), given super powers to perform this task. Those who die within the Tangent Universe are the Manipulated Dead (Frank and, according to the back of the book, Gretchen) who are also given certain powers, understanding of what is going on, and the ability to contact the Living Receiver via the Fourth Dimensional Construct (water). Everyone else in the orbit of the Living Receiver are the
Manipulated Living, who are subconsciously drawn to push and prod the Living Receiver towards his destiny, closing the Tangent Universe and, apparently, dying by the Artifact. Since the Manipulated Dead Frank-rabbit appears before the Tangent Universe is created, and before he himself is assumed to be created when Frank is shot by Donnie, it follows that this Manipulated Dead Frank-rabbit could not have come from the Frank seen in the movie, but the Frank, shot by Donnie, in an unseen previous Tangent Universe. Ultimately, Donnie Darko is about Donnie's first successful quest in ending the temporal paradox cycle or "time-loop" which he is caught in (not unlike Bill Murray in the movie "
Groundhog Day").
The chain of events in brief is as follows: the Manipulated Dead, Frank, rouses Donnie, the Living Receiver, from his bed, and compels him to leave his house, starting a
causal loop. Frank tells him that the Tangent Universe will collapse in 28 days. The next day Donnie goes to school. His English teacher, strangely, tells new girl Gretchen to sit next to the cutest boy in the room and she chooses Donnie (this begins the romance that ends badly and pushes Donnie to his final action). That night Frank appears to Donnie and makes him flood the school. As a result Donnie walks Gretchen home and asks her out. A bit later, Frank appears to Donnie and tells him to "burn it to the ground", so Donnie burns down the house of Jim Cunningham, a
motivational speaker. When the firemen come to investigate the fire, they discover a
secret room filled with
pedophilic material. As a result, Donnie's physical education teacher decides to defend Cunningham, who she believes has been framed. This causes Donnie's mother to chaperone her daughter's dance troupe on their way to California to perform on
Star Search (they board the airplane whose engine becomes the artifact in the Tangent Universe). Because of this, Donnie and his older sister, Elizabeth, are able to throw a party while the parents are away. This leads to a romantic interlude between Donnie and Gretchen. At the same time, Frank, Donnie's sister Elizabeth's boyfriend, realizes they've run out of alcohol at the party and drives off with a friend to pick up more beer.
(wikimeida實在太好用)
睇完donnie darko之後既感覺好似the butterfly effect,鐘意睇既人真係唔可以唔睇。種感覺好凍,如果你係佢,你又會唔會咁做?可能全世界當你傻既時候,你自己睇既野先至係最真實…其實一直都好怕睇充滿住黑色既戲,經常睇完之後令到我好失落,但係同時亦都帶比最大既幻想…