Donnie Darko, an eerie, heartbreaking portrait of a deeply troubled, psychotic teenager, marks the debut of Richard Kelly, a 26 year old director. The film is set in the late 1980's in an unidentified upper-middle-class neighborhood. Donnie Darko is the eldest of three children in what seems to be a close and loving family. Although the family may seem pleasant, Donnie, however, is a confused, unhappy high school student whose growing hostile behavior towards his parents conveys a deep despair about life and his place in it. Donnie often curses his mother and some nights would disappear for hours, refusing to tell where he goes or what he does. His parents begin to wonder what is happening to their son. "I don't recognize this person," his mother said. Likewise, Donnie hardly recognizes himself. Haunted by random acts of sleep walking and strange hallucinations of a 6-foot-tall metallic like rabbit with huge monster teeth, he totally feels out of control. He becomes unable to decipher what is real. Donnie feels left out with the rest of the world and fears the thought of being alone.
One morning Donnie wakes up on the middle of a golf course after sleepwalking out of his house. Very confused, he walks back home to find out that a huge jet engine has crashed through his house and landed into his bedroom. Luckily, had he been home, he could've been killed. After this major incident, Donnie notices that everything around him has begun to change. He falls in love with a new classmate and begins to see strange, inexplicable sights that suggest his near-death experience has left him with some sort of supernatural abilities. He believes that he is able to time travel and begins reading books on the subject and alternate universes.
The metallic rabbit named Frank increasingly enters his waking life, warning Donnie that the world will end in a matter of 28 days. Donnie wonders whether his newfound gifts will enable him to change the course of time and destiny.
