Donnie Darko

Why are you wearing that stupid man outfit?

Who is Donnie Darko? At school, he was a teenage outsider. At home, a boy struggling with mental health problems. In dreams, a chosen one visited by a big, dark rabbit named Frank. The latter claims that the world will end soon. And when dreams begin to creep into reality, Donnie is faced with questions larger than life: about time, destiny, and the nature of the whole world.

“Donnie Darko” is like jumping into a rabbit hole. It's a cinematic puzzle that features time travel, a lynch look at the American suburbs, high-school drama, coaching parody, physics, philosophy, turn-of-the-millennium social unrest, and “Alice in Wonderland.” It's the same enigma as the director, Richard Kelly, who made two more equally strange films after his brilliant debut — and fell silent. It's also a groundbreaking role for 20-year-old Jake Gyllenhaal, who as Donnie Darko first demonstrated his talent for creating ambiguous, complex characters.