Donnie Darko story
Donnie Darko is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and produced by Flower Films. Synopsis: The troubled teen Donnie Darko narrowly escapes a bizarre accident and has visions of Frank, a mysterious figure in a rabbit costume who informs him that the world will end in just over 28 days. Frank begins to manipulate Donnie to commit several crimes.
31 total · 12 major · 19 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| delusional point of view | major | The viewer is shown through Donnie what it might be like for a paranoid schizophrenic to interpret the world around them. |
| existential risk to civilization | major | Central to the plot was Donnie becoming convinced that the end of the world was nigh. How exactly the world would end was unclear. |
| family affairs | major | Featured throughout the story was the everyday life of the Darko family: a borderline dysfunctional suburban American family of five. |
| hallucination of a non-existing person | major | In one viewing of the story, Donnie was experiencing recurring hallucinations of a man in a rabbit costume named Frank who was manipulating Donnie into committing crimes and telling him the world would soon end. |
| hearing voices | major | In one viewing of the story, Donnie was a paranoid schizophrenic who was hearing a voice in his head that told him the world was going to end in under a month. |
| parallel universe | major | In one viewing of the story, much of the film took place in a "Tangent Universe" that was similar but not identical to the universe that the film started in. |
| schizophrenia | major | In one viewing of the story, Donnie was a paranoid schizophrenic who was seeing a psychiatrist and taking medication to manage his condition. |
| teen romance | major | Central to the story were the high schoolers Donnie and Gretchen falling for each other. |
| teenage angst | major | Donnie was a nonconformist high school student who had trouble fitting in with his peers. |
| time travel | major | The story culminated with Donnie somehow going back 28 days into the past. Donnie had in the lead up to this event become very interested in the idea that he could travel in time. |