Fifteen years before Stranger Things combined science-fiction, Spielberg-ian touches and 80s nostalgia to much acclaim, Richard Kelly set the template - and the high-water mark - with his debut feature, DONNIE DARKO. Initially beset with distribution problems, it would slowly find its audience and emerge as arguably the first cult classic of the new millennium.
Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a disturbed adolescent from a semi-functional, upper-middle class family, gifted with a sharp intellect and vivid imagination - but he's also a bit weird. Donnie's off his medication and when his boredom is obliterated by a falling airline engine, he becomes increasingly delusional and convinced the world will end in 28 days. Aided by an imaginary friend, he embarks on an increasingly crazed series of actions, which horrify his teachers, scare his parents and amaze his friends.
Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize - Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival. Nominated for Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, and Best Male Lead (Jake Gyllenhaal) at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
"Kelly is a supple and courageous storyteller, boldly free-associating as he mixes parody and satire with earnest psychodrama and coming up with plot points no one could anticipate." - Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader
"It remains an aesthetically filmed blend of off-beat comedy, mind-boggling sci-fi, and subjective storytelling that serves as a singular and timeless piece of cinema." - Kyle Aaronson, PopMatters
