Donnie Darko is a 2001 cult classic psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The film depicts the reality-bending venture of the eponymous character as he seeks the meaning and significance of his troubling end-of-the-world visions.

The film initially was slated for a direct-to-video release before it was picked up by Newmarket Films. Budgeted with $4,500,000 and filmed over the course of 28 days, the movie just missed breaking even, grossing about $4,200,000 worldwide. The film has since gone on to receive favorable reviews from critics and a cult following among fans. A sequel to the film, entitled S. Darko, is expected to be released in 2009.

Plot

Donnie Darko (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) is a troubled teenager in suburban Virginia in 1988. He appears to be suffering the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. At the start of the film, he has recently stopped taking his medication and as a result is sleepwalking. His parents, Rose and Eddie (Mary McDonnell and Holmes Osborne) and his sisters, Elizabeth and Samantha (Maggie Gyllenhaal and Daveigh Chase), are concerned about him. One night at dinner, Donnie and his sister get into a profane argument during which Elizabeth reveals she knows Donnie is no longer taking his medication. Rose confronts Donnie in his bedroom and he calls her a "bitch". Guiltily, Donnie resumes taking his medication. On October 2, however, he sleepwalks and meets Frank (James Duval), a man in a menacing bunny costume. Frank tells him that in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds, the world will end. That night, a jet engine mysteriously crashes through the roof of the Darkos' house, destroying Donnie's room.

As Eddie drives Donnie to the office of Dr. Thurman (Katharine Ross), Donnie's therapist, Eddie nearly runs over Roberta Sparrow, also known as "Grandma Death" (Patience Cleveland). A senile old woman who spends her days walking back and forth from her house to the mailbox across the street, Grandma Death whispers in Donnie's ear that all living creatures on Earth ultimately die alone. This greatly troubles Donnie, who worries that life has no meaning.

A few days later, Frank appears to Donnie in a hallucination and urges him to flood the private school he attends by breaking open the water main with an axe. Donnie also embeds the axe in the head of the school's solid bronze statue of its mascot and spray-paints "They made me do it" on the sidewalk. School is canceled that day and Donnie walks home Gretchen (Jena Malone), the new girl in school. She reveals that her stepfather nearly killed her mother and is still on the loose. Donnie reveals his own troubled past as well as his intelligence. Gretchen decides that Donnie is weird and that this makes him attractive. They agree to become a couple.