Donnie Darko - A Film Overview
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Donnie Darko is a 2001 science fiction film. The film is about the "Ensurance Trap" that Frank and possibly Gretchen have set up for Donnie so that, in the end, he has no choice but to send the jet engine back. He is doing this to save the world. To learn more about the basic plot, check out the Plot Summary. To learn more about the Ensurance Trap itself and some of the major events that set it up, check out the Timeline of Important Events.
The reason why Donnie is set on a 28 day adventure to send back the jet engine to the Primary Universe is to close up the Tangent Universe. He is the Living Receiver of The Artifact (jet engine) and is the one responsible to send it back. The Manipulated Dead, Frank and Gretchen, are setting up a trap known as the Ensurance Trap to make sure that Donnie sends the jet engine back to the Primary Universe and that they both are killed in the process. This may all seem overwhelming, especially after you have just seen the movie for the first time, but read The Philosophy of Time Travel and the plot will become much clearer. The fun of the movie, however, is that the plot is very open ended and very rarely will people perceive it in the same way. No one explanation of the movie is either "Right" or "Wrong", they are just different perspectives people have on the movie. Check out the Alternate Theories page to see some other common alternative takes on the movie.
Star Jake Gyllenhall has won many awards for his acting in films. Although he didn't start his career in acting with Donnie Darko, he certainly became more noticed after it. He won awards such as Best Actor from Chlotrudis Awards and Breakthrough Performance from Young Hollywood Awards. To learn more about Jake and the other actors in Donnie Darko, check out The Cast page.
Like Donnie Darko? Well there are plenty of other science fiction films about time travel that are just as brain-melting! To learn about some of these movies, look at the Similar Movies page.
Spoiler Alert: This website contains information that may spoil the plot for those who have not seen the film.
The reason why Donnie is set on a 28 day adventure to send back the jet engine to the Primary Universe is to close up the Tangent Universe. He is the Living Receiver of The Artifact (jet engine) and is the one responsible to send it back. The Manipulated Dead, Frank and Gretchen, are setting up a trap known as the Ensurance Trap to make sure that Donnie sends the jet engine back to the Primary Universe and that they both are killed in the process. This may all seem overwhelming, especially after you have just seen the movie for the first time, but read The Philosophy of Time Travel and the plot will become much clearer. The fun of the movie, however, is that the plot is very open ended and very rarely will people perceive it in the same way. No one explanation of the movie is either "Right" or "Wrong", they are just different perspectives people have on the movie. Check out the Alternate Theories page to see some other common alternative takes on the movie.
Star Jake Gyllenhall has won many awards for his acting in films. Although he didn't start his career in acting with Donnie Darko, he certainly became more noticed after it. He won awards such as Best Actor from Chlotrudis Awards and Breakthrough Performance from Young Hollywood Awards. To learn more about Jake and the other actors in Donnie Darko, check out The Cast page.
Like Donnie Darko? Well there are plenty of other science fiction films about time travel that are just as brain-melting! To learn about some of these movies, look at the Similar Movies page.
Spoiler Alert: This website contains information that may spoil the plot for those who have not seen the film.
"What if you could go back in time, and take all those hours of pain and darkness and replace them with something better?"
-Gretchen Ross
