I worked in a videostore between 2003-2005 and mentioned Donnie Darko for every customer. Few people rented the film, but of those who accepted it, they rented more than once.
Simone nailed it: there's an explanation for it all in the DVD that consists of the book about time travel that Donnie reads. You have to reconcile the "paradox" or the world will end. The paradox was that Donnie survived when he was supposed to die. Frank is trapped, unable to move on, because he died in the paradox universe. Frank created the "trap" by killing the girl Donnie loved, leaving Donnie only one choice , to go back in time to the moment of the paradox and choosing to die. This resolved the paradox and saved the world. But the last line of the book is that I'm their dreams everyone will remember what happened in the alternate universe, which is why they all wake up at the end..
Also Frank made Donnie flood the school so he would meet her on his way home, so they would fall in love and the trap could be set. But the paradox is the jet engine, not Donnie. Donnie is the "chosen one" who needs to fix the timeline returning the jet engine.
If Donnie was supposed to die then why does Frank say "wake up" and take him from the house so he doesn't get killed? The only reason he wasnt in his bed is because of Frank. If Frank wants him to fix the paradox why wake him up?
Southland Tales is the same story, but with different characters, it asks, what if a self absorbed dbag was the "chosen one" instead of a troubled brooding teen. It's glorious.
Fun Fact: The linguist that Drew Barrymore mentioned who said that the most beautiful combination of words is "Cellar Door", is none other than J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Lord of the Rings". Also, the "Head Over Heels" and "Under the Milky Way" sequences in this are some of my favorite scenes of all time. Plus, the whole soundtrack is fantastic.
During a visit to Los Angeles in 2013, I actually had the amazing fortune to briefly meet Beth Grant. I was visiting my cousin and her husband works in the tv industry. We just happened to cross paths and I recognized her instantly and told her how much I loved her work! I mentioned Donnie Darko and she said countless fans have asked her to say "I doubt your committment to Sparkle Motion!" and she did it every time! It was one of the best days of my life!
The teacher you hated and wanted to slap is the amazing character actress Beth Grant, who has 241 credits in her IMDB filmography spanning almost 45 years, and has been it at least two other movies you guys have reacted to. She was one of the passengers on the bus in "Speed", and she was Josh Brolin's cranky mother-in-law with cancer in "No Country for Old Men". Two other movies she's been in that I think you would both love are "Safe" with Julianne Moore, and the underrated and gorgeous animated film "Rango" with Johnny Depp and loads of other great actors doing voices.
Reminded me of every argument I've ever had with the kind of person who is incredibly confident they're always right regardless of their level of expertise in the given subject(and that of their opponent). 😄
My favourite part of that scene is his friends response when donnie drops the smurf lore on them "dammit donnie, why you always gotta get so smart on us?"
@@sighberspook2021I had a friend in high school tell me "sometimes you say really smart stuff and people don't no how to respond so they're just mean to you instead". So... Am I supposed to dumb myself down?
They had to okay that conversation with the company that owns Smurfs, and the makers were sure they weren't going to get away with it, but the company let it stay because Donnie's interpretation of the Smurfs is basically correct, including the fact that they don't have sex organs.
Their dreams are alternate reality memories. And.... "Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit?" "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?" is my favorite.
I like that you guys really understood the heart of this story. Donny basically realizes that the one way he can save his girlfriend is to die, so none of those events ever happen. He sacrifices himself to save his girlfriends life. People get so wrapped up in the time travel portion of the movie (don't get me wrong, it's cool) that they look right past the heart of the story which makes Donny a tragic hero.
That could be the outcome in a determined universe where there is no human free will. In that case, Donnie could only ever follow the path of actions that he does, and couldn't choose not to do any of them. So, he chooses to erase that "timeline" completely and sacrifice himself. But, notice that he made a choice - so perhaps he does have free will, and he could have changed his actions anyway (albeit in a limited way). This is akin to the paradox that confronts free will deniers: the fallacy of self-exclusion.
@@johnsmith-nn2hsPossibly, but we know from the website that everyone near the event will unknowingly work to resolve the paradox. So if the paradox was actually that Donny was alive when he should have been dead, he didn't really make a choice to sacrifice himself, he simply resolved the paradox.
Part of what makes the movie such an odd viewing experience is about half the information you need to make sense of it was released separately on a website - it was almost like an ARG. That book Donnie is reading - the philosophy of time travel - describes a situation where an unexplained artifact showing up in a prime timeline creates a tangent universe that will eventually collapse, and all people in proximity to the event will unknowingly work to resolve the paradox before it collapses. It's so very specific, and almost completely left out of the movie - which is why everyone walks away saying "what happened" haha.
The 'real explanation' always feels contrived to me - I love the theatrical release because you DON'T have enough information to work it all out and it just has this astonishing dreamlike, surreal and melancholic tone. Once you know all the background stuff it strips most of the mystique and magic for me.
Mary McDonnel is amazing in everything, even the relatively crappy role in Independence Day. It's tragic watching her make her peace with death in that.
I saw this movie maybe six years after it came out, and I was a teenager. What an incredible, life-changing experience. Introduced me to both Tears for Fears AND Jake Gyllenhaal
When she says 'Donnie Darko' sounds like a superhero name, she's technically correct...as he later saves her life. This is the only movie I've ever gone to see twice in theatres, so I could completely get it. It's very unique.
He’s also deliberately set up to have superpowers in the film, although they’re intended to be subtle and mostly mundane. The director mentions having the elemental powers of water and fire with flooding the school and burning down the house. But the one that’s most explicitly shown but which is the most subtle is super-strength. That’s a bronze statue in the school. So the question is - how did Donnie stick an axe in its head?
100% on of my favourite films. I still remember seeing this in an empty cinema late at night, and then walking home in the dark in a kind of daze. One of my most memorable film watching experiences.
One of my favorite movies. I'm really glad you watched the Theatrical Version. People say you prefer the version you saw first, but I think of myself as a decent critic, and for good reasons, I strongly prefer the musical queues and mystery of this version to the Director's Cut.
Likewise, I far preferred the theatrical cut. The only part of the Directors Cut I can remember thinking was a good addition was the parents ambiguous joke about getting a divorce.
I found your channel recently, and I have been loving it. Last night, I randomly searched to see if you had a Donnie Darko reaction, something I've never even searched for before, and then today you upload one. Blows my mind.
My sister was so confused by the end of this movie the first time I showed it to her when we were kids, but to this day we will still say "You’re such a fuckass" to each other. 👨👩👧👦😂 Also, this soundtrack was the reason I became a fan of all those awesome ‘80s alternative and new wave bands.
I've seen this movie more than any other, and that line still gives me chills. Perfect delivery. Asking a question, calmly, but with a sense of awe....
Totally. This is also a movie where the Director's Cut is pretty rad too. The commentary on the DVD with the Director is very good too and offers a lot of insight to the film.
My parents rarely watched movies (my mom was notorious for watching the first three minutes of a film and declare she's bored) together. When i put this DVD on and asked to at least try it out, i was shocked when they actually sat through and watched the entire thing. Of all movies, this is what caught their interest. I enjoy the movie, but i never thought they would. I believe this was the film debut for jena malone and is one of three movies the gyllenhaal siblings were in together. I guess you say, when donnie "changed" or chose a different timeline, it created a ripple effect. So that all the affected parties saw their fates in the timeline donnie foresaw if he lived. He laughed at the end at the absurdity of it all (laughing in the face of death), that in order for his love (at least in one timeline), to live, so many horrible people would escape their horrible fates. But cosmic justice stepped in and ensured those horrible people would never forget the potential ends as donnie foresaw them and were forced to see their true selves.
One of my favorite films, but also one of the more unsettling films about time travel. It’s like antithesis of Back to the Future. Also it gave us one of the more unintentional hilarious lines in, “Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.”
@@mojoshivers I think I read something about the events in the beginning creating a "pocket dimension" and then this dimension is destroyed in the end, so its not actually time travel. Something like that, but honestly its been years since I read about it.
@@GasparGa My only other theory was that it wasn’t conscious time travel but like a Groundhog Day situation, where he did the first go around “wrong” or against what was supposed to happen. So the universe or fate reset the timeline in order for Donnie to get it right.
You pretty much nailed it with the time travel back in time before the paradox of events happens to die in his room when the plane engine crashes through the roof in order to reset the timeline and save his girlfriend.
The song at the end, Gary Jules version of "Mad World," is worth a listen. Depressing ass lyrics. "All around me are familiar faces Worn out places, worn out faces Bright and early for the daily races Going nowhere, going nowhere"
Love this film. Came out at the perfect for someone in their mid-teens getting really into films. I just wish we had more films like this these days. Early 2000s indie movies were the best.
I had a friend who would sometimes advise people to never doubt her commitment to sparkle motion. It wasn't until years later that I found out what she was referencing.
1:14 "that no one is gonna watch it" ... Here's me watching your reaction for the fourth time, watched the directors cut in cinemas, watched the theatrical cut in cinemas for the 15th anniversary, the most shocking thing about me is that I don't have a Donnie Darko tattoo yet😂😂😂
I think I must have a higher tolerance for "not getting it" than most... I don't feel compelled to unravel each step and detail. For me it was a haunting and moving film, and that's really all I need to enjoy it. And, frankly, I understand so little about anything... I'm stumped as to how a can opener works, for instance. (That's an adaptation of a line from a Woody Allen film... cheers to anyone who knows which one (I've completely forgotten))
The dvd for this movie has one of my favorite director commentaries ever. Very insightful and Kevin Smith does the commentary with the director so it is also very funny
Also, the movie has a lot of stars from the 90s and early 2000. Frank is played by James Duval, indie fave in the 90s and Gregg Araki's muse for awhile, he also played Miguel in Indipendence day. The teacher was Noah Wyle, from the ER fame. The girlfriend was Jenna Malone and the sister is Daveigh Chase, Samara from the Ring remake.
I like when movies show something mundane in relationships but somehow remind me of some steps I maybe wanted to take but haven't. At the end when everyone was 'affected' by feeling what happened in the other timeline, it felt like that extra inspiration that sometimes comes from elsewhere to change your path. I liked that.
IMO wether the director realized it or not, this film in part is a modern dark reimagining of a film from 1950 "Harvey" staring James Stewart "The story centers on a man whose best friend is a puca named Harvey, a 6 ft 3+1⁄2 in (1.92 m) tall white invisible rabbit, and the ensuing debacle when the man's sister tries to have him committed to a sanatorium"
While the term "Cult Classic" generally means that a movie or TV show wasn't popular, well-viewed, or well-received when it originally came out, it also means that it became wildly popular years or decades later. So it was unpopular, but also popular... kinda like Firefly. It's a weird thing.
I love this. I think the more often you see it, the whole time travel/schizophria plot thing (which is cool) becomes less important. It is more about the characters, teenage angst and those troubled times, highs, lows, regrets... so much fun.
Evil Dead Movie Order: Evil Dead (1981) was the first movie, then Evil Dead 2 (1987) was the second movie (note: the first 10 minutes recap the first film differently due to rights of the first film rights belonging to New Line Cinema while Evil Dead 2 was distributed by Paramount), Army of Darkness (1992) was the 3rd film in the series, which also recaps the previous movie mildly different yet again due to licensing with a yet another studio (Universal for this one). The fourth film was Evil Dead (2013) which was a soft reboot of the series with a new cast of characters and more of a horror than the original movies dark comedy/horror vibe. Following the successful reboot (Evil Dead (2013)) a 3 season tv series brought Ash Williams back taking place 30 years after the events of Army of Darkness called Ash vs the Evil Dead (2015-2018). Then the newest in the "Evil Verse" is Evil Dead Rise (2023) which is the fifth film in the series.
iTunes had the Anniversary Edition on Donnie Darko (with all the special features) on sale for $2-3. Scooped it up real quick! Such a good movie, it put Jake on the map. The film's success was initially hampered because it was released so soon after 9/11. The advertising featuring the plane crash had to be pulled. The film later made a tidy profit thanks to robust video sales.
Next i really hope they see Butterfly Effect, Mr. Nobody, The education of fredrick fritzl & The Game (George will love that one in particular) - some of the best psychological/Time travel movies I've seen.
Great reaction! So many people just seem confused by this movie and don't get any of it. I watched it because it has two actresses that I love (Mary McDonnell as Donnie's Mom and Beth Grant as Kitty Farmer). That was 15 years ago and I've come to appreciate this more every time I watch it!
In my top 5, absolutely brilliant, I think the ending shows that the sacrifice is worthwhile. The fact everyone has at least some semblance of memory of the 28 days that never actually happened, means Swayze is racked with guilt, Frank (who I absolutely love as the idea of a time travel ghost) remembers his altercation and presumably cancels his Halloween plans, but most importantly, Donnie's mother didn't have her last moments with her son as an argument, but rather a very beautiful and understanding moment (even if she only remembers it in the recesses of her subconscious).
To help George out it's Evil Dead 1981, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, and Ash VS Evil Dead. The 2013 and new one are their own timeline. Edit: Sorry I forgot Evil Dead 1 didn't get a mainline release till 81 my mind always thinks of 78 so I edited it.
Thank you both for finally watching one of my favourite movies of all time. There is a directors cut which offers a little more explanation to what occurs In the story, but it is still left up to the viewer to figure most of it out. If you enjoyed this I highly recommend Dark City, it’s mysterious and weird, and awesome. I would definitely recommend you watch the directors cut of it though as the original version has narration at the start which spoils the plot of the film, it was added at the studios request because they didn’t understand the film so assumed the audience wouldn’t either.
Great reaction! The guy in the red track suit was also one of the agents that showed up in the beginning when the jet engine fell on Donnie's house, and the theory is he is somehow ensuring that the timeline is restored to normal.
This movie is near to my heart. A comfort movie for sure. I’m excited to watch y’all watch this and to hear your thoughts as it progresses. I bought this movie on DVD, and the screen on my tv went out shortly after. I had watched it only a few times. I could still hear the audio though so I listened to the directors cut, maybe, 100 times before actually seeing it again. I would just put it on every day after work for months to listen to before I bought a new tv.
Great, great movie. No wonder Jake Gyllenhall (and Maggie too) went on to a great career The one mistake it made might have been to have that Gary Jules cover of “Mad World” on its soundtrack. So damn haunting it’s probably more known than the movie. And it spawned so many other slow-acoustic-version-of-a-pop-hit covers that it might not hit as hard these days, if it’s your first listen. But it made an impact back then.
Very much agreed upon this. I worked in various music stores throughout the very late 90's and early 2000's and Gary Jules' cover of "Mad World" was that one song that people could begin to describe and I knew exactly what they were wanting. You also bring up a good point about the idea of people performing slow covers of songs because it is so prevalent now.
I like that Simone said that she might not have got it but she felt it. I totally feel the same way. I still don’t fully understand it but I felt the shit out of it.
The Director's Cut of the movie actually simplifies things a bit by adding more direct explanation of the events as they unfold. Some people appreciated this clarity and others preferred the original's "open to interpretation" approach...
Based on alot of the reactions of this on RUclips i would say some people should watch the directors instead because time travel and parallel universes and paradoxical world ending events is too complicated of a subject for the average person to grasp.
Beth Grant was so brilliant at playing a Karen, and as unlikeable as she is she gets the funniest line in the movie without doubt. She had to hit that AAaaanus just right to get the most mirth
I think "sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!" is the funniest line in the movie without doubt, so it looks like we're both wrong about the "without doubt" part, but at least we picked the right actor!😄
I worked at Best Buy when the DVD came out, and I'd never heard of it before. I was buying a different DVD, and a co-worked handed this to me and said, "buy this, if you don't like it, I'll buy it back from you". I watched it after work that night and couldn't sleep.... I spent all night thinking about it. I think I watched it again every night for the rest of the week. Been my favorite ever since!
What makes this a cult classic is it is very unique and mysterious movie. As other have pointed out in the comments there's an explanation that will clear it up but it will also diminish the magic. Even without fully understanding it you should get that he goes back in time at the end of the movie and sacrifices his life to set the timeline back so his gf will not die.
I feel like I was never able to accurately describe my relationship to this movie. "I feel it but I don't, like, get it." might be the best description ever. Thank you Simone!
This movie and 12 Monkey have always really unnerved me, since I’ve had the experience of dreaming about the future, and later finding myself in the exact situation I’d dreamed about.
LOL, just realized that one kid pronounced Jillion almost like Jakes real last name. "I called you like a Jillian times." The incidental music in this movie is creepy as fuq as well; but supes memorable it's funny when daughter child watched this movie her response afterward was, "oh my god I don't even feel real right now." I think that adequately describes the mind blown space this movie leaves you in.
What’s particularly interesting to me is that the movie mocks endlessly the journey of fear to love, but it is the journey that Donnie goes on, from start to finish-from being afraid of dying alone to dying because he cares about other people, particularly the girl he loves. It’s obviously far more complicated than the dumb interpretation than the teacher and Patrick Swayze make it sound, but i wonder if it’s because those two are both stuck in the fear stage while lying to themselves about being in the love stage. It’s the delusion of where you believe you are that harms you. It’s such a brilliant movie. I get something different from it every time I see it.
Bill Hicks did the Fear vs Love talk in earnest as part of his Revelations comedy show in London for Channel 4, which was actually very moving, especially since he was dying of cancer at the time. That was several years before Donnie Darko came out. I always find it interesting how this film reverses that use of the message, with Cunningham using this thing as a way to sell self-help merch, and persuade schoolkids not to fear his "love".
"That brings back memories". I'm sorry you had to live through that George If this were the Simpsons that line would've been immediately followed by a flashback to George shouting at Simone "Go back to China!"
So not only was it the Gyllenhaal twins as the siblings but also the bully was played by Alex Greenwald. Alex is better known as the lead singer for Phantom Planet, the band that did the song "California". Jake and Alex were very close friends when they made the movie and still are today.
George, I have a slightly different idea of a "cult classic". I see it as a movie that passes relatively undetected (or is poorly received) on it's initial release but later becomes re-evaluated and achieves acclaim at a later date. Things like Shawshank Redemption, Blade Runner and The Big Lebowski all fit the definition for me and I bet you have a pretty good view count on those videos. Cable TV and Blockbuster Video used to be good vehicles for creating cult classics, now I have no idea what does it. Maybe CineCult React.
Something that always stuck with me after watching this movie for the first time, was the song played during the scene at the cinema. It’s eerie and overwhelming. I love it. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is what it’s called.
This movie was recommended to me by a girl I knew after my dad suddenly died, I became homeless, lets just say a lot happened....because she said I reminded her of Donnie Darko. Hadnt seen it back then so I wondered why. But when I saw it I knew. It's special,...but very dark. Still love it.
I like that this can be read in different ways. This could be Donnie having a psychotic break and hallucinating everything. Maybe it's all a hallucination he has in the final moments before death. I like to think the time travel is real and the universe is throwing him a bone. Basically, when he was told that everyone dies alone, he is given the chance to reconcile all of his shortcomings. He finds a girlfriend, makes peace with his mom, unveils the cult that has been spreading in town by exposing a pedophile and has a stronger relationship with his sister. But the universe has to throw a few curveballs to remind him "This too shall pass". So he loses his favourite teacher, people outside his control will hurt him and he ultimately dies alone when his girlfriend is taken from in uncontrollable circumstances. All this so that in his final moments he has no regrets, he has known genuine love and he will pass on with the good memories and the righteous knowledge that he is willing to sacrifice his happiness so that others may survive the paradox. His last temptation.
The time travel is real in the film, that's been confirmed for many many years now, it's not hallucinations at all, tbf why introduce time travel and parallel dimensions if it's all inside his head.
So true. "Donnie Darko", "Requiem For A Dream", "Mulholland Drive" are amongst my favorite movies of the early 2000s. Great stories, great actors, unique cinematic style. Nothing against a nice blockbuster here and there, but those movies show that there is way more important stuff to make an outstanding movie.
Problem with that a good actor will eventually cost a lot of money. He got paid more than the budget for this movie in Spiderman. So the budget for a movie can be for the price of the actors.
I would REALLY recommend watching the director's cut on second viewing. It, among other things, inserts pages from Roberta Sparrow's book that help explain/underscore what's happening in a lot scenes. There are specific reasons everyone is doing what they are doing---it's pretty fascinating. Really helps piece things together. Soundtrack not quite as good, but hey, win some lose some.
@DoubleMonoLR eh...to each their own. If it doesn't matter what the correct answer is, I'm puzzled why you felt the need to write this paragraph of a response, but whatevs. I think both versions have their value. The theatrical by its nature makes the story more vague, allowing you to come to your own conclusions about what's going on. It's less handholdy, which is great but the double edge sword being that you miss out on a really interesting meta narrative that was initially engineered to be told through things like the ARG and website. The directors cut patches that issue the best it can by inserting some of that lost information in to the movie. Its a bum deal, and the whole "telling a story through various media" thing is always a huge mistake (one need look no further than The Matrix Reloaded to know that), but it is what it is. I think its great to watch the theatrical first, but I think its immensely rewarding to go back and watch the directors cut, especially if, like the reviewer, you liked the movie and are considering a rewatch anyway. It can help make sense of some of their stated confusion, add an entire dimension to the storyline that they didn't know was there, and go a long way to give context to some of the wooden, sometimes bizarre-seeming acting choices and lines from the supporting cast. Also, to say the excerpts are pointless is disingenuous, as the whole point of them is to bring context and better explain what's happening in any given scene.....that's a tangent (in my writing...not universe)...anyway, all of this to say if you were recommending they don't start with the directors cut, I could understand your point, but they've seen it. On second viewing why not get a more whole understanding of the entire story initially told through other media, especially when it's good stuff? Commentaries are good though, on that we agree.
@DoubleMonoLR also, to your 'people wanting things to be tied up neatly' thing...I'm not a simpleton, I very much enjoy movies that don't handhold. I'm sure a great deal of my favorite films might be considered 'obtuse' by the masses. I just think there's compelling story there that deserves to be interacted with and explored, and the directors cut is really the only way to get that compelling story, short of buying the philosophy of time travel movie companion book.
Man i was obsessed with this film for a few months back in about 2005. Its so damn weird and unsettling. "I can see him right now!!!" is one of my all time favourite jump scares!
This movie was everywhere in the 2000's. So many people I knew were obsessed with it. I saw it when I was in high school, so almost 10 years after it came out. Loved it ever since. 🖤
I actually don’t remember it, believe it or not. I was a teenager in the 2000s… or the early 2000s and I never really heard about it, I guess because it was an independent film. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it wasn’t popular. I’m not sure why I don’t remember it that much
@@nsasupporter7557 That's fair! I honestly saw it a lot of it online like images/quotes on MySpace and Facebook. Or it being mentioned as people's favorite movie. But it also could've been because of the people I was around back then. My best friend at the time was really into independent films so that makes sense lol.
I am so glad that y’all reacted to this, it’s one of my all time favorite movies!! I love the complexity of the story and all the symbolism and hidden meanings sprinkled throughout. Definitely a cult classic for a reason and worthy of multiple viewings!
I had a theory when I first watched this film as a teenager, so it may have holes in it, but this is what I thought at the time. Since Donnie has such mental problems, he can see and talk to ghosts, and since Frank was killed by him so close to the "wormhole event", Frank's spirit could go back in time and speak to Donnie. Donnie suffers from regular sleepwalking and is always meant to be out of the house when the engine hits, so Frank shows Donnie the future to get him to stay in the house, killing Donnie and thus saving Frank. He also showed the future to all the people Donnie would have affected except Gretchen because he felt guilty for killing her so he didn't want to traumatise her.
That is where the bubble universe fits. Donnie creates a bubble universe. But the more Donnie hangs on and tries to change things. The more unstable the universe becomes.
Seriously my number 1 movie. The second he didn't get killed by the jet engine he was living On borrowed time. All the clues are in Roberta sparrows book
Is it really underrated though? Maybe back when it came out, but since then, it's become a massive cult hit, got a Director's Cut release, and multiple special edition DVD/Blu-ray/UHD releases.
@@doughbafett It's very highly rated by those who have seen it, but that's the point. Still not as many people have seen it as the movie deserves. eg look at the likes of Barbie recently and how much coverage that had, or generic Marvel Superhero #12 etc
@@doughbafettno it’s not underrated, let me tell you something… whenever a person says that someone or something is “underrated” on RUclips, it’s not underrated! People are just infatuated with “underrated” and love calling things underrated even when they’re not
@@mrbrit1218so it’s not as “underrated” as you think it is! You just look for every reason to call something “underrated” because you love that word just like so many other people on RUclips are
Donnie Darko is a definite "You have to watch this at least twice to get it" movies, and in relatively short order. Like Momento or Annihilation or The Arrival or Inception or Interstellar or Pi. You need to have seen the ending and everything that led up to the ending to understand and contextualize/re-contextualize the preceding bits. I kinda dig those types of movies. Some of my faves.
There's a director's cut version that adds a whole bunch of extra scenes and clarifications, but for me it explains too much. It's an interesting watch but I adore the original cut so much more.
Full Explanation: It's about tangent universes - if a fourth dimension gets corrupted a tangent universe is created but has a limited life span (a few weeks). When Frank wakes up Donnie, and when the jet engine crashes we're ALREADY in the alternate tangent universe. Donnie was chosen (at random) to be the one to make sure the Tangent universes artifact (the jet engine) is returned back to the Prime Universe. Donnie is given special powers as the now Living Receiver chosen to save the entire universe. Frank the bunny is whats considered to be a "Manipulated Dead" - someone who DIES in the Tangent Universe (who wouldn't have died in the prime timeline) who is chosen and sent back to the beginning of the tangent universe to guide the Living Receiver (Donnie) through the process of destroying the tangent universe and returning stability to the Prime Universe. The others Donnie interacts with such as the Teacher, The Chinese Classmate, His girlfriend - they're all a guiding force known as the Manipulated Living who also help guide him, subconsciously, towards saving the prime universe. At the end, Donnie knowing his purpose uses his powers (Telekinesis for this event) to rip the engine off the plane and send it back through the portal to the prime universe. He wakes up in the prime universe thinking the entire Tangent Universe was a dream, he laughs and smiles and goes back to sleep thinking it was just some crazy dream not knowing the truth. Others who were Manipulated Living and Manipulated Dead had the same dream about the tangent universe and have residual memories of all of the events - which is why Gretchen and Donnie's mom wave to each other, its why Jim Cunningham is crying (knowing what he is doing and eventually kills himself 14 days later), Frank the Bunny covering his eye, etc. Donnie saved the universe. Roberta Sparrow was a Living Receiver herself for a DIFFERENT Tangent Universe which is why she wrote the book (philosophy of time travel)- and also serves as proof that living receivers don't need to die in order for the Prime Universe to be saved after a corruption. If Donnie got out of bed for a drink instead of going back to sleep, the universe would still have been saved - but because he thought it was a dream he died.
Flower Films is the name of Drew Barrymore's production company with Nancy Junoven. She read the script and was essential in getting the movie made. One thing that is visually expressed but may not be instantly clear to people is that Donnie attends a religious school (I assume a Catholic school). That's why Noah Wyle's character gets antsy -- in their discussion, Donnie proposes that someone could "move within God's channel," and so to have an explanation that could suggest that someone could take on the power of God would presumably be very contentious. I think that's also why Drew Barrymore's character gives off weird vibes: I'm just guessing, but her character strikes me as not Catholic, and maybe took the job to stay with Wyle, and is trying to push back a little bit against what is presumably a restrictive environment when it comes to trying to open kids' minds up to the full breadth of literature. That's also what the fight is really about when she gets fired -- she knows she is losing her job because Kitty does not understand the book she assigned, and not because she's doing anything wrong. Kitty is confusing Graham Greene with Lorne Greene, an actor on "Bonanza." Coincidentally, Graham Greene is also the name of a contemporary Canadian (!) Oneida Indian actor from Dances With Wolves (with Mary McDonnell, Donnie's mom), Die Hard With a Vengeance, and a few others. Beth Grant, who plays Kitty, has made a name for herself playing similar types of characters. Another very famous role for her that you've already seen is Helen in Speed, the nervous passenger who tries to get off the bus and gets blown up. In real life, she seems like a very funny and charming lady who has fun being these characters people remember because they are hated. The estate of Peyo, the creator of Smurfs, gave their approval for the scene where Donnie and his friends discuss the Smurfs despite its graphic content because what Donnie says about the Smurfs is canonically correct. In addition to pre-fame Seth Rogen as the bully's buddy, Frank's friend at the end, who Donnie tells to "go home!", is played by Fran Kranz, who was the stoner Marty in Cabin in the Woods. I think it's a shame that Richard Kelly hasn't had the freedom to continue making films as a director, although he has produced some great films (the pitch-black comedy World's Greatest Dad, in particular). I think it would be worth watching both of his follow-ups, Southland Tales and The Box. Both are quite interesting. In the case of Southland Tales, there are again two cuts of the film, one of which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and was notoriously re-edited later. That one is a little clearer, but my guess is for access reasons you'd be better off watching the theatrical cut. Definitely have to echo everyone from here and in the Patreon comments who said you should absolutely *not* watch the sequel, which Richard Kelly was not involved with and does not represent the vision of anyone involved with this film, even though Daveigh Chase (who also played Samara in The Ring) returned to play Samantha. A couple of positive related recommendations for the cast to consider instead: Nightcrawler (Jake Gyllenhaal), Stranger Than Fiction (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and Inherent Vice (Jena Malone).
A thought I just had watching your outro: Would Roberta have been in the middle of the road forcing Frank to swerve if Donnie had not sent Roberta a letter? Is she retrieving it at that moment?
+1 to Southland Tales. Such a weird movie. Not "good" in the classical sense but so much fun. I'm also probably alone with this, but I kinda liked the sequel to Donnie Darko.
I watched this movie whilst acclimatising to some pretty powerful psychiatric medication. I wasn't high, but I felt displaced and the movie caused an overwhelming sense of Deja Vu. The sense of someone watching the film from behind my head (to the sides or above) and being a few seconds ahead of me but reacting perfectly appropriately to what I then saw on screen. I felt like looking behind me would mean meeting my own Frank. I honestly felt like the movie was going to keep looping as if it already had. I question your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
one thing that blew my mind was the soundtrack of donnie darko. one song called "manipulated living" which plays a lot when the rabbit is involved in stuff.
I'm glad Simone said that she felt it but wasn't sure she got it. I think that's a hallmark of good art. On a side note, I remember when this movie first started making the rounds and it felt like everyone suddenly knew about the Mad World song and was getting into Joy Division. Isn't it odd how these cult classic type movies often have great soundtracks? My favourite has to be Steve Baker & Carmen Daye - For Whom The Bell Tolls.
Jake Gyllenhaal is a talented actor that should have more quality jobs offered to him. He did an incredibly good work (the method way) in "Nightcrawler" (2014), written and directed by Dan Gilroy.
Not really, there are movies that are cult classics because they're terrible, like "The Room" Probably best to just think of them as movies that developed a metaphorical 'cult' following.
Jake Gyllenhaal is one of mine favorite modern actors, any of his movies i can rewatch many times,Bubble Boy,Prince of Persia,Source Code,Nocturnal Animals,Prisoners,End of Watch,Enemy,Life .
I worked in a videostore between 2003-2005 and mentioned Donnie Darko for every customer. Few people rented the film, but of those who accepted it, they rented more than once.
It's the kind of movie you want other people to watch. So you can try to decipher it together. Still one of my favorites.
I miss days of the all knowing video guy, before the algorithm, before the darks times
You are a true hero
@@spencerarnold669 Before the empire...
I saw it in a theater in richmond Va where I lived when it came out. Blew our minds.
Simone nailed it: there's an explanation for it all in the DVD that consists of the book about time travel that Donnie reads. You have to reconcile the "paradox" or the world will end. The paradox was that Donnie survived when he was supposed to die. Frank is trapped, unable to move on, because he died in the paradox universe. Frank created the "trap" by killing the girl Donnie loved, leaving Donnie only one choice , to go back in time to the moment of the paradox and choosing to die. This resolved the paradox and saved the world. But the last line of the book is that I'm their dreams everyone will remember what happened in the alternate universe, which is why they all wake up at the end..
Also Frank made Donnie flood the school so he would meet her on his way home, so they would fall in love and the trap could be set.
But the paradox is the jet engine, not Donnie. Donnie is the "chosen one" who needs to fix the timeline returning the jet engine.
If Donnie was supposed to die then why does Frank say "wake up" and take him from the house so he doesn't get killed? The only reason he wasnt in his bed is because of Frank. If Frank wants him to fix the paradox why wake him up?
@@AmberVivicide Donnie didn't have to die, he CHOSE to die. As the other dude said the jet engine is the paradox, not Donnie's survival.
Southland Tales is the same story, but with different characters, it asks, what if a self absorbed dbag was the "chosen one" instead of a troubled brooding teen. It's glorious.
Now I hate this movie
Fun Fact: The linguist that Drew Barrymore mentioned who said that the most beautiful combination of words is "Cellar Door", is none other than J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "The Lord of the Rings".
Also, the "Head Over Heels" and "Under the Milky Way" sequences in this are some of my favorite scenes of all time. Plus, the whole soundtrack is fantastic.
I'd never heard half of the songs on this soundtrack before watching the movie, but I listen to them all still all these years later!
Not to mention the "Mad World" sequence at the end, one of the most haunting movie scenes I've ever seen.
@@jculver1674 Watching this film was the 1st time I heard that song, and I fell in love with it
Cellar door sounds like French or something so no wonder
@@cassu6Cellar might possibly be French but Door definitely isn't
The way Beth Grant delivers the line "Sometimes I doubt your commitment to sparkle motion!" is gold. No small parts!
I randomly think of that line and giggle on nearly a monthly basis and have ever since the movie came out! 😄
@@korganrocks3995 Truly a meme worth keeping alive. :)
whilst rocking the iconic "God is awesome!" t-shirt 😂
Such an iconic line!
During a visit to Los Angeles in 2013, I actually had the amazing fortune to briefly meet Beth Grant. I was visiting my cousin and her husband works in the tv industry. We just happened to cross paths and I recognized her instantly and told her how much I loved her work! I mentioned Donnie Darko and she said countless fans have asked her to say "I doubt your committment to Sparkle Motion!" and she did it every time! It was one of the best days of my life!
The teacher you hated and wanted to slap is the amazing character actress Beth Grant, who has 241 credits in her IMDB filmography spanning almost 45 years, and has been it at least two other movies you guys have reacted to. She was one of the passengers on the bus in "Speed", and she was Josh Brolin's cranky mother-in-law with cancer in "No Country for Old Men". Two other movies she's been in that I think you would both love are "Safe" with Julianne Moore, and the underrated and gorgeous animated film "Rango" with Johnny Depp and loads of other great actors doing voices.
Oh, she was in Little Miss Sunshine as well I think.
I remember her from a couple of malcolm in the middle episodes. She has the perfect "Karen" face.
Rango is so damn good.
@@stobe187 - Right? I need to rewatch it again soon, actually. Criminally underrated and unknown film.
She is a tremendous actress
The papa Smurf conversation is still the best to me. Every time Donnie says, “first of all…” I can’t stop laughing.
Reminded me of every argument I've ever had with the kind of person who is incredibly confident they're always right regardless of their level of expertise in the given subject(and that of their opponent). 😄
My favourite part of that scene is his friends response when donnie drops the smurf lore on them
"dammit donnie, why you always gotta get so smart on us?"
@@sighberspook2021I had a friend in high school tell me "sometimes you say really smart stuff and people don't no how to respond so they're just mean to you instead". So... Am I supposed to dumb myself down?
They had to okay that conversation with the company that owns Smurfs, and the makers were sure they weren't going to get away with it, but the company let it stay because Donnie's interpretation of the Smurfs is basically correct, including the fact that they don't have sex organs.
“Go suck a fuck” 😂”I’m NOT AFRAID ANYMORE” are 2 quotes I can use to defend the Smurf way of life
Their dreams are alternate reality memories.
And....
"Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit?"
"Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?" is my favorite.
That moment at the end where the little girl asks her if she knew who Donnie was, and there's that long pause before she says no, it just makes me sob
Jake Gyllenhaal can be a creepy kid, but what about his role in Nightcrawler as an adult? That's a must watch as well.
Or he in the music video Time To Dance from The Shoes
Nightcrawler is a great movie! But personally, I could never do any kind of job that requires you to have No empathy for ppl.
"Prisoners", by Denis Villeneuve.
Yeah, Nightcrawler makes you wanna invite the Joker and Travis Bickle for a slumber party.
What makes Nightcrawler even creepier for me is doing something like he does in that movie is actually believable in a sadistic way.@@YourMothersMan
I like that you guys really understood the heart of this story. Donny basically realizes that the one way he can save his girlfriend is to die, so none of those events ever happen. He sacrifices himself to save his girlfriends life. People get so wrapped up in the time travel portion of the movie (don't get me wrong, it's cool) that they look right past the heart of the story which makes Donny a tragic hero.
Exactly. Time travel is just the Maguffin. The heart of the story is him sacrificing his life and their entire relationship for her life.
That could be the outcome in a determined universe where there is no human free will. In that case, Donnie could only ever follow the path of actions that he does, and couldn't choose not to do any of them. So, he chooses to erase that "timeline" completely and sacrifice himself. But, notice that he made a choice - so perhaps he does have free will, and he could have changed his actions anyway (albeit in a limited way).
This is akin to the paradox that confronts free will deniers: the fallacy of self-exclusion.
“Sounds like some kind of superhero”
@@lakotagrywlfWho's to say he wasn't?
@@johnsmith-nn2hsPossibly, but we know from the website that everyone near the event will unknowingly work to resolve the paradox. So if the paradox was actually that Donny was alive when he should have been dead, he didn't really make a choice to sacrifice himself, he simply resolved the paradox.
Simone’s cat was going crazy at the beginning there. 😂
1:50 never saw that before. 😆
Yes, I definitely want to see more of Simone’s cat, what’s the story, what was it after, name?
Simone didn’t even flinch, she must be used to it 🤣
Hmmm.... Was hoping for something else
Yeah I figured the cat was chasing a bug.
Part of what makes the movie such an odd viewing experience is about half the information you need to make sense of it was released separately on a website - it was almost like an ARG. That book Donnie is reading - the philosophy of time travel - describes a situation where an unexplained artifact showing up in a prime timeline creates a tangent universe that will eventually collapse, and all people in proximity to the event will unknowingly work to resolve the paradox before it collapses. It's so very specific, and almost completely left out of the movie - which is why everyone walks away saying "what happened" haha.
You just made this movie make sense to me after years of forgetting about it because it never made sense to me. Wow.
The 'real explanation' always feels contrived to me - I love the theatrical release because you DON'T have enough information to work it all out and it just has this astonishing dreamlike, surreal and melancholic tone. Once you know all the background stuff it strips most of the mystique and magic for me.
I completely agree@@Dayboot33
There's a director's cut that explains a lot more of the lore, and it is definitely less interesting than the original movie.
@@StudioMod it's not really made to make sense, is it? It's the experience of an emotionally unstable teenager with severe constant hallucinations
The mom in this movie is also in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica and she is amazing in it(so is everyone else in the show).
You are right!
Holy shit, that's where I remember her from.
Thanks for the reminder. Got to check that one out again.
Mary McDonnel is amazing in everything, even the relatively crappy role in Independence Day. It's tragic watching her make her peace with death in that.
Dances with Wolves also
@@roryotoole3279 and Sneakers
I saw this movie maybe six years after it came out, and I was a teenager. What an incredible, life-changing experience. Introduced me to both Tears for Fears AND Jake Gyllenhaal
Fun information. The Girl who plays the youngest sister played Samara Morgan the little girl from the Ring!
When she says 'Donnie Darko' sounds like a superhero name, she's technically correct...as he later saves her life. This is the only movie I've ever gone to see twice in theatres, so I could completely get it. It's very unique.
He’s also deliberately set up to have superpowers in the film, although they’re intended to be subtle and mostly mundane. The director mentions having the elemental powers of water and fire with flooding the school and burning down the house. But the one that’s most explicitly shown but which is the most subtle is super-strength.
That’s a bronze statue in the school. So the question is - how did Donnie stick an axe in its head?
100% on of my favourite films. I still remember seeing this in an empty cinema late at night, and then walking home in the dark in a kind of daze. One of my most memorable film watching experiences.
I shared the same experience but with Close Encounters
The Netflix series DARK is a series that also takes time travel in an eerie-ass mind-blowing direction.
I thought I would like DARK, but I didn't.
I actually hoped the 3 main adult characters would die and burn in hell because they deserved each other.
@@BlackavarWD I enjoyed the first two seasons. The third season kinda lost the plot.
@@martinholt8168 it went final fantasy levels of crazy at the end, i kinda liked that.
Dark's creators are huge fans of Donnie Darko. Dark's ending is definitely inspired by Donnie Dark's ending.
Great show. I wasn't completely happy with how it ended though.
One of my favorite movies. I'm really glad you watched the Theatrical Version. People say you prefer the version you saw first, but I think of myself as a decent critic, and for good reasons, I strongly prefer the musical queues and mystery of this version to the Director's Cut.
Likewise, I far preferred the theatrical cut. The only part of the Directors Cut I can remember thinking was a good addition was the parents ambiguous joke about getting a divorce.
I found your channel recently, and I have been loving it. Last night, I randomly searched to see if you had a Donnie Darko reaction, something I've never even searched for before, and then today you upload one. Blows my mind.
My sister was so confused by the end of this movie the first time I showed it to her when we were kids, but to this day we will still say "You’re such a fuckass" to each other. 👨👩👧👦😂
Also, this soundtrack was the reason I became a fan of all those awesome ‘80s alternative and new wave bands.
Haha my sister and i also recreate the dinner table scene from time to time.
“Have you ever seen a portal?” Frank demonstrating the portal directly on a frame of a clock is genius symbolism. A time portal…
I've seen this movie more than any other, and that line still gives me chills. Perfect delivery. Asking a question, calmly, but with a sense of awe....
@@BRUXXUS I couldn’t agree more. Though it does make me laugh when I hear people say they thought Frank asked “have you ever seen a porno?”
Ha!
This is definitely a movie that demands multiple rewatches
Can’t wait for them to watch Primer at some point and have their brains melt into goo.
Totally. This is also a movie where the Director's Cut is pretty rad too. The commentary on the DVD with the Director is very good too and offers a lot of insight to the film.
It demands a reading list,
My parents rarely watched movies (my mom was notorious for watching the first three minutes of a film and declare she's bored) together. When i put this DVD on and asked to at least try it out, i was shocked when they actually sat through and watched the entire thing. Of all movies, this is what caught their interest. I enjoy the movie, but i never thought they would. I believe this was the film debut for jena malone and is one of three movies the gyllenhaal siblings were in together. I guess you say, when donnie "changed" or chose a different timeline, it created a ripple effect. So that all the affected parties saw their fates in the timeline donnie foresaw if he lived. He laughed at the end at the absurdity of it all (laughing in the face of death), that in order for his love (at least in one timeline), to live, so many horrible people would escape their horrible fates. But cosmic justice stepped in and ensured those horrible people would never forget the potential ends as donnie foresaw them and were forced to see their true selves.
One of the greatest endings in Cinematic History, and "Mad World" by Gary Jules playing over it is perfection.
Mad World by Tears For Fears, performed by Gary Jules.
@@nigeldepledge3790 A semantic distinction, but yes.
@@nigeldepledge3790 Yes, sung slower than the original.
Aw man you guys cut my favorite line.
"Sounds like a superhero name"
"How do you know I'm not?"
It totally encapsulates the movie imo
One of my favorite films, but also one of the more unsettling films about time travel. It’s like antithesis of Back to the Future.
Also it gave us one of the more unintentional hilarious lines in, “Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.”
Is it time travel? I'm not so sure
@@GasparGa I think it’s a clear-cut decision at the end for Donnie to go back in time to allow himself to die to prevent all the deaths later.
Time Travel huh?@ Jetson White channel @ Rumble @ video Trump Tesla Time Travel...but google Author Ingersol Lockwood first.
@@mojoshivers I think I read something about the events in the beginning creating a "pocket dimension" and then this dimension is destroyed in the end, so its not actually time travel. Something like that, but honestly its been years since I read about it.
@@GasparGa My only other theory was that it wasn’t conscious time travel but like a Groundhog Day situation, where he did the first go around “wrong” or against what was supposed to happen. So the universe or fate reset the timeline in order for Donnie to get it right.
This is one of those movies u watch 100 times and always get something different out of it... Great movie!
You pretty much nailed it with the time travel back in time before the paradox of events happens to die in his room when the plane engine crashes through the roof in order to reset the timeline and save his girlfriend.
The song at the end, Gary Jules version of "Mad World," is worth a listen. Depressing ass lyrics.
"All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere"
Cellar Door is still true beauty, this is one of few productions sponsored by Drew Barrymore’s Production Company
Love this film. Came out at the perfect for someone in their mid-teens getting really into films.
I just wish we had more films like this these days. Early 2000s indie movies were the best.
I had a friend who would sometimes advise people to never doubt her commitment to sparkle motion. It wasn't until years later that I found out what she was referencing.
1:14 "that no one is gonna watch it" ... Here's me watching your reaction for the fourth time, watched the directors cut in cinemas, watched the theatrical cut in cinemas for the 15th anniversary, the most shocking thing about me is that I don't have a Donnie Darko tattoo yet😂😂😂
Something I just noticed - the Sparkle Motion actress plays Carla Jean's mom in No Country for Old Men.
You wouldn't know from no country that she's Scottish
25:32 "Oh! Oh no!! AHHH!" -Simone 🫣
Gasp! -George 🫢
excellent 🏆
I think I must have a higher tolerance for "not getting it" than most... I don't feel compelled to unravel each step and detail. For me it was a haunting and moving film, and that's really all I need to enjoy it. And, frankly, I understand so little about anything... I'm stumped as to how a can opener works, for instance. (That's an adaptation of a line from a Woody Allen film... cheers to anyone who knows which one (I've completely forgotten))
The dvd for this movie has one of my favorite director commentaries ever. Very insightful and Kevin Smith does the commentary with the director so it is also very funny
Also, the movie has a lot of stars from the 90s and early 2000. Frank is played by James Duval, indie fave in the 90s and Gregg Araki's muse for awhile, he also played Miguel in Indipendence day. The teacher was Noah Wyle, from the ER fame. The girlfriend was Jenna Malone and the sister is Daveigh Chase, Samara from the Ring remake.
Simone is the most empathetic, beautiful person you could ever hope for
I like when movies show something mundane in relationships but somehow remind me of some steps I maybe wanted to take but haven't.
At the end when everyone was 'affected' by feeling what happened in the other timeline, it felt like that extra inspiration that sometimes comes from elsewhere to change your path.
I liked that.
IMO wether the director realized it or not, this film in part is a modern dark reimagining of a film from 1950 "Harvey" staring James Stewart "The story centers on a man whose best friend is a puca named Harvey, a 6 ft 3+1⁄2 in (1.92 m) tall white invisible rabbit, and the ensuing debacle when the man's sister tries to have him committed to a sanatorium"
While the term "Cult Classic" generally means that a movie or TV show wasn't popular, well-viewed, or well-received when it originally came out, it also means that it became wildly popular years or decades later. So it was unpopular, but also popular... kinda like Firefly. It's a weird thing.
I love this. I think the more often you see it, the whole time travel/schizophria plot thing (which is cool) becomes less important. It is more about the characters, teenage angst and those troubled times, highs, lows, regrets... so much fun.
I was so obsessed with this movie in high school! The soundtrack, the acting, the theories! It’s such a good movie to rewatch 💙
Evil Dead Movie Order: Evil Dead (1981) was the first movie, then Evil Dead 2 (1987) was the second movie (note: the first 10 minutes recap the first film differently due to rights of the first film rights belonging to New Line Cinema while Evil Dead 2 was distributed by Paramount), Army of Darkness (1992) was the 3rd film in the series, which also recaps the previous movie mildly different yet again due to licensing with a yet another studio (Universal for this one). The fourth film was Evil Dead (2013) which was a soft reboot of the series with a new cast of characters and more of a horror than the original movies dark comedy/horror vibe. Following the successful reboot (Evil Dead (2013)) a 3 season tv series brought Ash Williams back taking place 30 years after the events of Army of Darkness called Ash vs the Evil Dead (2015-2018). Then the newest in the "Evil Verse" is Evil Dead Rise (2023) which is the fifth film in the series.
iTunes had the Anniversary Edition on Donnie Darko (with all the special features) on sale for $2-3. Scooped it up real quick! Such a good movie, it put Jake on the map. The film's success was initially hampered because it was released so soon after 9/11. The advertising featuring the plane crash had to be pulled. The film later made a tidy profit thanks to robust video sales.
This movie never fails to move me and make me cry. Especially the thread with Charita.
Next i really hope they see Butterfly Effect, Mr. Nobody, The education of fredrick fritzl & The Game (George will love that one in particular) - some of the best psychological/Time travel movies I've seen.
Great reaction! So many people just seem confused by this movie and don't get any of it. I watched it because it has two actresses that I love (Mary McDonnell as Donnie's Mom and Beth Grant as Kitty Farmer). That was 15 years ago and I've come to appreciate this more every time I watch it!
In my top 5, absolutely brilliant, I think the ending shows that the sacrifice is worthwhile. The fact everyone has at least some semblance of memory of the 28 days that never actually happened, means Swayze is racked with guilt, Frank (who I absolutely love as the idea of a time travel ghost) remembers his altercation and presumably cancels his Halloween plans, but most importantly, Donnie's mother didn't have her last moments with her son as an argument, but rather a very beautiful and understanding moment (even if she only remembers it in the recesses of her subconscious).
To help George out it's Evil Dead 1981, Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, and Ash VS Evil Dead. The 2013 and new one are their own timeline.
Edit: Sorry I forgot Evil Dead 1 didn't get a mainline release till 81 my mind always thinks of 78 so I edited it.
Thank you both for finally watching one of my favourite movies of all time. There is a directors cut which offers a little more explanation to what occurs In the story, but it is still left up to the viewer to figure most of it out. If you enjoyed this I highly recommend Dark City, it’s mysterious and weird, and awesome. I would definitely recommend you watch the directors cut of it though as the original version has narration at the start which spoils the plot of the film, it was added at the studios request because they didn’t understand the film so assumed the audience wouldn’t either.
Great reaction! The guy in the red track suit was also one of the agents that showed up in the beginning when the jet engine fell on Donnie's house, and the theory is he is somehow ensuring that the timeline is restored to normal.
I believe this came around the same time as the butterfly effect. DD is obviously the superior film but the other would be worth a watch
Indeed, Butterfly Effect was dismissed for no reason other than Ashton Kutcher was the lead - even though he's actually very good in it.
This movie is near to my heart. A comfort movie for sure.
I’m excited to watch y’all watch this and to hear your thoughts as it progresses. I bought this movie on DVD, and the screen on my tv went out shortly after. I had watched it only a few times. I could still hear the audio though so I listened to the directors cut, maybe, 100 times before actually seeing it again. I would just put it on every day after work for months to listen to before I bought a new tv.
Great, great movie. No wonder Jake Gyllenhall (and Maggie too) went on to a great career
The one mistake it made might have been to have that Gary Jules cover of “Mad World” on its soundtrack. So damn haunting it’s probably more known than the movie. And it spawned so many other slow-acoustic-version-of-a-pop-hit covers that it might not hit as hard these days, if it’s your first listen. But it made an impact back then.
The mistake is not calling the movie "Mad World" in that case. 😉
Very much agreed upon this. I worked in various music stores throughout the very late 90's and early 2000's and Gary Jules' cover of "Mad World" was that one song that people could begin to describe and I knew exactly what they were wanting. You also bring up a good point about the idea of people performing slow covers of songs because it is so prevalent now.
Just curious: you know that cover was made specifically for this movie, right?
@@mulrich I didn’t know that - wild. Did know I’d never heard anything like it, though, and it’s such a good fit, so not surprised. Good job, movie
I like that Simone said that she might not have got it but she felt it. I totally feel the same way. I still don’t fully understand it but I felt the shit out of it.
The Director's Cut of the movie actually simplifies things a bit by adding more direct explanation of the events as they unfold. Some people appreciated this clarity and others preferred the original's "open to interpretation" approach...
Based on alot of the reactions of this on RUclips i would say some people should watch the directors instead because time travel and parallel universes and paradoxical world ending events is too complicated of a subject for the average person to grasp.
23:02 simone is top tier teary eyes. 😥
natural talent.
Beth Grant was so brilliant at playing a Karen, and as unlikeable as she is she gets the funniest line in the movie without doubt.
She had to hit that AAaaanus just right to get the most mirth
I think "sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!" is the funniest line in the movie without doubt, so it looks like we're both wrong about the "without doubt" part, but at least we picked the right actor!😄
@@korganrocks3995 I like that line too but I'm just going by the audience reaction when I watched it
@@A-small-amount-of-peasFair enough.
I worked at Best Buy when the DVD came out, and I'd never heard of it before. I was buying a different DVD, and a co-worked handed this to me and said, "buy this, if you don't like it, I'll buy it back from you". I watched it after work that night and couldn't sleep.... I spent all night thinking about it. I think I watched it again every night for the rest of the week. Been my favorite ever since!
What makes this a cult classic is it is very unique and mysterious movie. As other have pointed out in the comments there's an explanation that will clear it up but it will also diminish the magic. Even without fully understanding it you should get that he goes back in time at the end of the movie and sacrifices his life to set the timeline back so his gf will not die.
I feel like I was never able to accurately describe my relationship to this movie. "I feel it but I don't, like, get it." might be the best description ever. Thank you Simone!
This movie and 12 Monkey have always really unnerved me, since I’ve had the experience of dreaming about the future, and later finding myself in the exact situation I’d dreamed about.
Unless you wrote it down, how can you be sure you've actually had those dreams rather than forming the false memory of having them retroactively ;).
@@VestinVestin hmmmmmmm I;mgoing with the Arrival take on things
Sounds like it could be deja vu
LOL, just realized that one kid pronounced Jillion almost like Jakes real last name. "I called you like a Jillian times."
The incidental music in this movie is creepy as fuq as well; but supes memorable
it's funny when daughter child watched this movie her response afterward was, "oh my god I don't even feel real right now." I think that adequately describes the mind blown space this movie leaves you in.
What’s particularly interesting to me is that the movie mocks endlessly the journey of fear to love, but it is the journey that Donnie goes on, from start to finish-from being afraid of dying alone to dying because he cares about other people, particularly the girl he loves. It’s obviously far more complicated than the dumb interpretation than the teacher and Patrick Swayze make it sound, but i wonder if it’s because those two are both stuck in the fear stage while lying to themselves about being in the love stage. It’s the delusion of where you believe you are that harms you.
It’s such a brilliant movie. I get something different from it every time I see it.
Bill Hicks did the Fear vs Love talk in earnest as part of his Revelations comedy show in London for Channel 4, which was actually very moving, especially since he was dying of cancer at the time. That was several years before Donnie Darko came out. I always find it interesting how this film reverses that use of the message, with Cunningham using this thing as a way to sell self-help merch, and persuade schoolkids not to fear his "love".
“Sometimes I doubt your commitment to sparkle motion” is an amazing line
"That brings back memories". I'm sorry you had to live through that George
If this were the Simpsons that line would've been immediately followed by a flashback to George shouting at Simone "Go back to China!"
Lisa needs braces!
Dental plan...
Lisa needs braces!
Dental plan...
@@TrickyDicky2006I used to mark the first day I fell off my bike and scraped a knee or elbow, but each to their own... 😄
So not only was it the Gyllenhaal twins as the siblings but also the bully was played by Alex Greenwald. Alex is better known as the lead singer for Phantom Planet, the band that did the song "California". Jake and Alex were very close friends when they made the movie and still are today.
George, I have a slightly different idea of a "cult classic". I see it as a movie that passes relatively undetected (or is poorly received) on it's initial release but later becomes re-evaluated and achieves acclaim at a later date. Things like Shawshank Redemption, Blade Runner and The Big Lebowski all fit the definition for me and I bet you have a pretty good view count on those videos. Cable TV and Blockbuster Video used to be good vehicles for creating cult classics, now I have no idea what does it. Maybe CineCult React.
Something that always stuck with me after watching this movie for the first time, was the song played during the scene at the cinema. It’s eerie and overwhelming. I love it. “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is what it’s called.
This movie was recommended to me by a girl I knew after my dad suddenly died, I became homeless, lets just say a lot happened....because she said I reminded her of Donnie Darko. Hadnt seen it back then so I wondered why. But when I saw it I knew. It's special,...but very dark. Still love it.
"Cellar Door" being the most beautiful word in English is a direct quote from Tolkien, who said it during a lecture in the 50's.
I like that this can be read in different ways. This could be Donnie having a psychotic break and hallucinating everything. Maybe it's all a hallucination he has in the final moments before death.
I like to think the time travel is real and the universe is throwing him a bone. Basically, when he was told that everyone dies alone, he is given the chance to reconcile all of his shortcomings. He finds a girlfriend, makes peace with his mom, unveils the cult that has been spreading in town by exposing a pedophile and has a stronger relationship with his sister. But the universe has to throw a few curveballs to remind him "This too shall pass". So he loses his favourite teacher, people outside his control will hurt him and he ultimately dies alone when his girlfriend is taken from in uncontrollable circumstances. All this so that in his final moments he has no regrets, he has known genuine love and he will pass on with the good memories and the righteous knowledge that he is willing to sacrifice his happiness so that others may survive the paradox. His last temptation.
The time travel is real in the film, that's been confirmed for many many years now, it's not hallucinations at all, tbf why introduce time travel and parallel dimensions if it's all inside his head.
@@saylosrelyks8645why make movies about timetravel is timetravel is not possible ? Do you hear yourself?
The linguist that talked about "cellar door" was JRR Tolkien, who wrote Lord of the Rings.
A classic. Proof you don't need $200m to make a movie, just a good story and good actors.
Hopefully Hollywood will remember that fact soon...
So true. "Donnie Darko", "Requiem For A Dream", "Mulholland Drive" are amongst my favorite movies of the early 2000s. Great stories, great actors, unique cinematic style. Nothing against a nice blockbuster here and there, but those movies show that there is way more important stuff to make an outstanding movie.
lol, proof you don't need to make a whole movie when it's an alternative timeline episode of Star Trek. It's a waste of a movie.
Problem with that a good actor will eventually cost a lot of money. He got paid more than the budget for this movie in Spiderman. So the budget for a movie can be for the price of the actors.
@@aznthySimpsons did it! Simpsons did it!
I'm sure you're real fun at parties.
A friend of mine and I snuck into the the theater to see this. When I was 12 years old. One of my favorite films of all time.
I would REALLY recommend watching the director's cut on second viewing. It, among other things, inserts pages from Roberta Sparrow's book that help explain/underscore what's happening in a lot scenes. There are specific reasons everyone is doing what they are doing---it's pretty fascinating. Really helps piece things together. Soundtrack not quite as good, but hey, win some lose some.
@DoubleMonoLR eh...to each their own. If it doesn't matter what the correct answer is, I'm puzzled why you felt the need to write this paragraph of a response, but whatevs. I think both versions have their value. The theatrical by its nature makes the story more vague, allowing you to come to your own conclusions about what's going on. It's less handholdy, which is great but the double edge sword being that you miss out on a really interesting meta narrative that was initially engineered to be told through things like the ARG and website. The directors cut patches that issue the best it can by inserting some of that lost information in to the movie. Its a bum deal, and the whole "telling a story through various media" thing is always a huge mistake (one need look no further than The Matrix Reloaded to know that), but it is what it is. I think its great to watch the theatrical first, but I think its immensely rewarding to go back and watch the directors cut, especially if, like the reviewer, you liked the movie and are considering a rewatch anyway. It can help make sense of some of their stated confusion, add an entire dimension to the storyline that they didn't know was there, and go a long way to give context to some of the wooden, sometimes bizarre-seeming acting choices and lines from the supporting cast. Also, to say the excerpts are pointless is disingenuous, as the whole point of them is to bring context and better explain what's happening in any given scene.....that's a tangent (in my writing...not universe)...anyway, all of this to say if you were recommending they don't start with the directors cut, I could understand your point, but they've seen it. On second viewing why not get a more whole understanding of the entire story initially told through other media, especially when it's good stuff? Commentaries are good though, on that we agree.
@DoubleMonoLR also, to your 'people wanting things to be tied up neatly' thing...I'm not a simpleton, I very much enjoy movies that don't handhold. I'm sure a great deal of my favorite films might be considered 'obtuse' by the masses. I just think there's compelling story there that deserves to be interacted with and explored, and the directors cut is really the only way to get that compelling story, short of buying the philosophy of time travel movie companion book.
Man i was obsessed with this film for a few months back in about 2005. Its so damn weird and unsettling. "I can see him right now!!!" is one of my all time favourite jump scares!
I graduated highschool in 2005, around that time I was obsessed with Family Guy. I don’t really recall this movie in the 2000s, believe it or not
This movie was everywhere in the 2000's. So many people I knew were obsessed with it. I saw it when I was in high school, so almost 10 years after it came out. Loved it ever since. 🖤
I actually don’t remember it, believe it or not. I was a teenager in the 2000s… or the early 2000s and I never really heard about it, I guess because it was an independent film. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it wasn’t popular. I’m not sure why I don’t remember it that much
@@nsasupporter7557 That's fair! I honestly saw it a lot of it online like images/quotes on MySpace and Facebook. Or it being mentioned as people's favorite movie. But it also could've been because of the people I was around back then. My best friend at the time was really into independent films so that makes sense lol.
I am so glad that y’all reacted to this, it’s one of my all time favorite movies!! I love the complexity of the story and all the symbolism and hidden meanings sprinkled throughout. Definitely a cult classic for a reason and worthy of multiple viewings!
I had a theory when I first watched this film as a teenager, so it may have holes in it, but this is what I thought at the time.
Since Donnie has such mental problems, he can see and talk to ghosts, and since Frank was killed by him so close to the "wormhole event", Frank's spirit could go back in time and speak to Donnie. Donnie suffers from regular sleepwalking and is always meant to be out of the house when the engine hits, so Frank shows Donnie the future to get him to stay in the house, killing Donnie and thus saving Frank. He also showed the future to all the people Donnie would have affected except Gretchen because he felt guilty for killing her so he didn't want to traumatise her.
That is where the bubble universe fits. Donnie creates a bubble universe. But the more Donnie hangs on and tries to change things. The more unstable the universe becomes.
That's a really cool theory!
Interesting theory, but wrong
Seriously my number 1 movie. The second he didn't get killed by the jet engine he was living On borrowed time. All the clues are in Roberta sparrows book
Such a criminally underrated movie, such an amazing soundtrack as well.
Is it really underrated though? Maybe back when it came out, but since then, it's become a massive cult hit, got a Director's Cut release, and multiple special edition DVD/Blu-ray/UHD releases.
@@doughbafett It's very highly rated by those who have seen it, but that's the point. Still not as many people have seen it as the movie deserves. eg look at the likes of Barbie recently and how much coverage that had, or generic Marvel Superhero #12 etc
it was underrated when it was released but highly gained interest only 10 years later and became a legendary movie
@@doughbafettno it’s not underrated, let me tell you something… whenever a person says that someone or something is “underrated” on RUclips, it’s not underrated! People are just infatuated with “underrated” and love calling things underrated even when they’re not
@@mrbrit1218so it’s not as “underrated” as you think it is! You just look for every reason to call something “underrated” because you love that word just like so many other people on RUclips are
My fave movie of all time. Period. It’s just a masterpiece
The Director's Cut is "geekier", "deeper in the rabbit hole" if I may say...🐇
P.S. : the other two Richard Kelly movies are worth watching.
Yeah when they said there'd be endless debates unless the director explained everything, I said: "Both!"
The director's cut ruins the movie for me and his later films are... Well, not good is the most polite thing I can say about them.
3:28 She was the first lady, and in Battlestar Galactica she was the president.
Simone, I would like to point out there was no "Woo" at the end, and this is disappointing and unacceptable.
Donnie Darko is a definite "You have to watch this at least twice to get it" movies, and in relatively short order. Like Momento or Annihilation or The Arrival or Inception or Interstellar or Pi.
You need to have seen the ending and everything that led up to the ending to understand and contextualize/re-contextualize the preceding bits. I kinda dig those types of movies. Some of my faves.
There's a director's cut version that adds a whole bunch of extra scenes and clarifications, but for me it explains too much. It's an interesting watch but I adore the original cut so much more.
Full Explanation:
It's about tangent universes - if a fourth dimension gets corrupted a tangent universe is created but has a limited life span (a few weeks). When Frank wakes up Donnie, and when the jet engine crashes we're ALREADY in the alternate tangent universe. Donnie was chosen (at random) to be the one to make sure the Tangent universes artifact (the jet engine) is returned back to the Prime Universe. Donnie is given special powers as the now Living Receiver chosen to save the entire universe.
Frank the bunny is whats considered to be a "Manipulated Dead" - someone who DIES in the Tangent Universe (who wouldn't have died in the prime timeline) who is chosen and sent back to the beginning of the tangent universe to guide the Living Receiver (Donnie) through the process of destroying the tangent universe and returning stability to the Prime Universe.
The others Donnie interacts with such as the Teacher, The Chinese Classmate, His girlfriend - they're all a guiding force known as the Manipulated Living who also help guide him, subconsciously, towards saving the prime universe.
At the end, Donnie knowing his purpose uses his powers (Telekinesis for this event) to rip the engine off the plane and send it back through the portal to the prime universe.
He wakes up in the prime universe thinking the entire Tangent Universe was a dream, he laughs and smiles and goes back to sleep thinking it was just some crazy dream not knowing the truth. Others who were Manipulated Living and Manipulated Dead had the same dream about the tangent universe and have residual memories of all of the events - which is why Gretchen and Donnie's mom wave to each other, its why Jim Cunningham is crying (knowing what he is doing and eventually kills himself 14 days later), Frank the Bunny covering his eye, etc.
Donnie saved the universe.
Roberta Sparrow was a Living Receiver herself for a DIFFERENT Tangent Universe which is why she wrote the book (philosophy of time travel)- and also serves as proof that living receivers don't need to die in order for the Prime Universe to be saved after a corruption.
If Donnie got out of bed for a drink instead of going back to sleep, the universe would still have been saved - but because he thought it was a dream he died.
Flower Films is the name of Drew Barrymore's production company with Nancy Junoven. She read the script and was essential in getting the movie made.
One thing that is visually expressed but may not be instantly clear to people is that Donnie attends a religious school (I assume a Catholic school). That's why Noah Wyle's character gets antsy -- in their discussion, Donnie proposes that someone could "move within God's channel," and so to have an explanation that could suggest that someone could take on the power of God would presumably be very contentious. I think that's also why Drew Barrymore's character gives off weird vibes: I'm just guessing, but her character strikes me as not Catholic, and maybe took the job to stay with Wyle, and is trying to push back a little bit against what is presumably a restrictive environment when it comes to trying to open kids' minds up to the full breadth of literature. That's also what the fight is really about when she gets fired -- she knows she is losing her job because Kitty does not understand the book she assigned, and not because she's doing anything wrong.
Kitty is confusing Graham Greene with Lorne Greene, an actor on "Bonanza." Coincidentally, Graham Greene is also the name of a contemporary Canadian (!) Oneida Indian actor from Dances With Wolves (with Mary McDonnell, Donnie's mom), Die Hard With a Vengeance, and a few others.
Beth Grant, who plays Kitty, has made a name for herself playing similar types of characters. Another very famous role for her that you've already seen is Helen in Speed, the nervous passenger who tries to get off the bus and gets blown up. In real life, she seems like a very funny and charming lady who has fun being these characters people remember because they are hated.
The estate of Peyo, the creator of Smurfs, gave their approval for the scene where Donnie and his friends discuss the Smurfs despite its graphic content because what Donnie says about the Smurfs is canonically correct.
In addition to pre-fame Seth Rogen as the bully's buddy, Frank's friend at the end, who Donnie tells to "go home!", is played by Fran Kranz, who was the stoner Marty in Cabin in the Woods.
I think it's a shame that Richard Kelly hasn't had the freedom to continue making films as a director, although he has produced some great films (the pitch-black comedy World's Greatest Dad, in particular). I think it would be worth watching both of his follow-ups, Southland Tales and The Box. Both are quite interesting. In the case of Southland Tales, there are again two cuts of the film, one of which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and was notoriously re-edited later. That one is a little clearer, but my guess is for access reasons you'd be better off watching the theatrical cut.
Definitely have to echo everyone from here and in the Patreon comments who said you should absolutely *not* watch the sequel, which Richard Kelly was not involved with and does not represent the vision of anyone involved with this film, even though Daveigh Chase (who also played Samara in The Ring) returned to play Samantha. A couple of positive related recommendations for the cast to consider instead: Nightcrawler (Jake Gyllenhaal), Stranger Than Fiction (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and Inherent Vice (Jena Malone).
A thought I just had watching your outro: Would Roberta have been in the middle of the road forcing Frank to swerve if Donnie had not sent Roberta a letter? Is she retrieving it at that moment?
+1 to Southland Tales. Such a weird movie. Not "good" in the classical sense but so much fun.
I'm also probably alone with this, but I kinda liked the sequel to Donnie Darko.
I watched this movie whilst acclimatising to some pretty powerful psychiatric medication. I wasn't high, but I felt displaced and the movie caused an overwhelming sense of Deja Vu. The sense of someone watching the film from behind my head (to the sides or above) and being a few seconds ahead of me but reacting perfectly appropriately to what I then saw on screen. I felt like looking behind me would mean meeting my own Frank.
I honestly felt like the movie was going to keep looping as if it already had.
I question your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
one thing that blew my mind was the soundtrack of donnie darko. one song called "manipulated living" which plays a lot when the rabbit is involved in stuff.
Did you pick up that the old lady kept checking the mail, waiting for the letter he sent her?
I'm glad Simone said that she felt it but wasn't sure she got it. I think that's a hallmark of good art. On a side note, I remember when this movie first started making the rounds and it felt like everyone suddenly knew about the Mad World song and was getting into Joy Division. Isn't it odd how these cult classic type movies often have great soundtracks? My favourite has to be Steve Baker & Carmen Daye - For Whom The Bell Tolls.
It's not hard to decipher....just pay attention....
Jake Gyllenhaal is a talented actor that should have more quality jobs offered to him. He did an incredibly good work (the method way) in "Nightcrawler" (2014), written and directed by Dan Gilroy.
24:10 🥶 chills.
I would argue the term 'Cult Classic' just means, "Highly rated by those who have seen it but the movie performed poorly in theaters".
Not really, there are movies that are cult classics because they're terrible, like "The Room"
Probably best to just think of them as movies that developed a metaphorical 'cult' following.
Jake Gyllenhaal is one of mine favorite modern actors, any of his movies i can rewatch many times,Bubble Boy,Prince of Persia,Source Code,Nocturnal Animals,Prisoners,End of Watch,Enemy,Life .