Donnie Darko - A Film Overview
Alternate Theories
One of the best parts about Donnie Darko is that it has a fairly open ended plot. Not a whole lot is explained during the movie which results in people coming up with many different theories about what is going on. None of these theories are "right" or "wrong", they are just different perspectives that people take on the movie. In my opinion, this is the most enjoyable part of the film. Here is a short list of some common explanations that people agree on. Some other alternate explanations are also discussed here. The most important thing to remember is that Donnie Darko is a science-fiction film. Strange things are allowed to occur.
Schizophrenia
It is well known to anyone who watches the film that Donnie has emotional problems in some form or another. Donnie visits Dr. Thurman regularly to help these problems. This alternate theory suggests that Donnie is schizophrenic and he is hallucinating nearly everything. This makes the plot much easier to understand, but leaves other questions unanswered. What's with Donnie going back in time 28 days at the end of the movie? How are Gretchen and Frank still alive at the end if Donnie killed them? Was the entire movie just in Donnie's imagination? Despite these questions, one piece of evidence to suggest that this theory is true is that Dr. Thurman admits that the medication she has been giving Donnie were placebos. This would allow his hallucinations to take place.
Frank Saves Donnie
During the film, Roberta Sparrow says to Donnie "Every living creature dies alone." It is obvious when he is talking to Dr. Thurman that Donnie is very afraid of dying alone. This explanation suggests that Donnie, being as socially awkward as he is, was going to die alone during that night when the jet engine fell. Frank instead saves Donnie from the jet engine and gives him an additional 28 days to live. Frank says the world will end in 28 days, but he doesn't mean the world itself will end, he means Donnie will die in 28 days. This explanation also relates to the movie Final Destination where a group of people escape death, but not forever. Death comes back after the group and eventually takes their lives. This explanation suggests that since Donnie escaped death, he won't be able to live a long time, but it will be long enough for Donnie to not die alone, his greatest fear. Frank sets up a sequence of events that eventually build up his relationship with Gretchen. At the end of the movie, Donnie is dying alone, but at least he felt the comfort of a significant other for a few weeks. Gretchen dies in the world where Donne existed, and he understands that if he doesn't live, she won't die. This would explain why he is laughing in his bed at the end.
Time-loop
This is a common theory, which is also sometimes combined with the current explanation. The basics of this theory are that the jet engine is sent back in time 28 days where the days need to play over again. This theory assumes that time is one dimensional, so when the jet engine is sent back, everything is reset 28 days earlier and must play out again. The idea is the world can't get out of the looping 28 days. By dying at the end of the movie, or the beginning of the 28 days, Donnie makes it impossible for the jet engine to be sent back in time. The problem with this theory is that it doesn't explain a lot of the events during the film too well. What's with Frank? How did all the events play out so perfectly? The time-loop explanation may be combined with the schizophrenia theory to help add more depth.
