Donnie Darko

Very strong 4*. An excellent psychedelic trip that does not lead the viewer by the hand, cleverly inviting many interpretations, but you don’t need to understand it, just to enjoy it sensually; and you’ll watch it in one breath. What a relieving feeling compared to Kelly's follow-up Southland Tales, where in retrospect one realises how he repeats himself in an embarrassingly awkward way, and where the most you can learn from the dialogues is who has beaten who, or would like to beat who, and who has a big cock and who has a small one. Kelly, get your feet back on the ground or you'll go down in film history as someone who never crossed the shadow of its powerful debut. (29.05.2008)

Interesting film. Above all, Donnie Darko has a fascinating atmosphere and I don’t even mind that I didn’t quite get everything. I actually doubt it has only one right explanation, I think it’s one of those films that has to be experienced emotionally rather than understood rationally. For the time being, an uncertain 4 stars (I don’t know whether strong or weak), but I might change my opinion when I find time to rewatch it. (11.09.2008)

An unorthodox story about a high school “geek" is an impressive movie adorned with excellent acting, a well-written and original screenplay and a completely absorbing dense atmosphere. Despite all of this I can’t shake the feeling that from the whole movie somehow protrudes the fact that it could be a tiny bit better than it finally is. I would be very interested in seeing the twenty minutes longer Director’s Cut. If that’s good, I would definitely raise the score to five *. (14.03.2005)

Hypnotic, captivating, and unclassifiable in genre. It contains sharp satire, elusive sci-fi, and playful originality, yet I cannot convey Donnie to an unfamiliar viewer. It completely deviates from the norm in scenes with the rabbit, excellently builds up the ending, and above all, shows for the first time that Jake Gyllenhaal truly has talent. An unforgettable, although far from flawless experience. (25.01.2006)

It is said that some films age like fine wine, but it is actually more appropriate to say that we appreciate them more or differently as we ourselves age. Donnie Darko is the ultimate eruptive debut and a distillation of everything that its creator had done before. Mainly, however, Kelly succeeded in presenting a multi-layered depiction of growing up through the use of sci-fi motifs and a mysterious narrative. When you’re the same age as the protagonists, you may – like the protagonists themselves – concern yourself the most with finding an unambiguous answer for the meaning, causality and internal logic of the narrative. Paradoxically, with the passing of years, you begin to appreciate the fact that the purpose of all of the fantastical motifs and WTF elements is to enable the film to deal with and expressly depict the broadest possible range of thoughts and emotions churning in the adolescent body. The title character thus attempts to find answers to the existential questions of fate, free will and predestination, he wants to destroy and create, to live and die, he is angry at everything, everyone and himself, but he wants to be loved, or at least to get laid. Kelly created a sophisticated labyrinth full of misleading alleyways that, however, help to further examine the various sides of the protagonist, who, like all teenagers, is the centre of his own world. And that offers viewers several levels of pleasure and engagement, whether as metaphor, story, construct, mystery, projection screen or mirror. Donnie Darko is thus to adolescence what Fight Club is to masculinity. (19.11.2021)

Well, by the ending I was sitting there like something poached. All it takes is one wave and you kind of freeze up – I mean, I did. I had kind of counted on how Donnie turned out, well not exactly, but I knew he would sacrifice something dear to him. Definitely an interesting film worth seeing, and I think, though I haven't seen it unfortunately, the director's cut would have been the better choice. Otherwise, I have nothing else to add. Any more words Donnie Darko has taken from me. (27.07.2009)

A little too crackpot for my taste, but as soon as everything falls into place, I can’t avoid being satisfied with this. I also like time travel and this journey back to the eighties was a fine experience. And excellent music, I must say. (26.09.2008)

This intellectually stupid trend never ceases to fascinate me. As soon as there is a movie with supernatural phenomena, told non-linearly, and, God forbid, with a conclusion without a rational explanation, the world falls into mass hysteria and this place is crawling with full-fledged ratings like ants in an anthill. If I were to see this crap again, they will probably have to take me to the hospital for boredom and lack of originality poisoning. Richard Kelly relies purely on bespectacled intellectuals, who latch on like wasps to candy, and he couldn't care less that this totally disjointed film offers absolutely no rational explanation or meaning (similarly to Lynch, for example). And it's no wonder when it feels that way. A first-class muddled mess without a point. Two stars for a well-portrayed family and Mary McDonnell's performance. (12.06.2008)

Donnie Darko gehört wahrscheinlich zu den Filmen, die man so richtig (wenn überhaupt) erst beim zweiten (oder dritten) Mal schätzen lernt. Aber was nützt es, wenn ich kein Bedürfnis spüre, mir diesen Film noch einmal anzuschauen? Ich kann die Schauspieler*innen loben, ich kann die Regie sowie die Auswahl der Lieder loben. Die Tatsache, dass ich von diesem gut bewerteten Film mit einem langweiligen und eingebildeten Drehbuch im Stil von "staunt doch, ich bin etwas Großes" schrecklich enttäuscht war, kann aber nichts davon verdecken. Ein seltsames Werk, das ich lange gemieden habe… Was eine gute Entscheidung war. (30.07.2011)

The execution is excellent, but Kelly's storytelling is somehow unyielding. The constant unravelling of new and new mysteries and some good ideas (the scary bunny is brilliant) make it very nice to watch, but in the finale there's a bit of a feeling of over-complication and many of the themes simply fizzle out. An example of what an extremely skilful directorial touch can do with a script that is not quite polished. (21.03.2012)

Donnie Darko is an exceptionally good film. The story drew me in from the very beginning and it got me thinking about it for a while after it was over. The film has an unsettling atmosphere throughout, with things constantly tangling up and untangling and everything intertwined. The cast gave great performances. I was most surprised by Drew Barrymore – it wasn’t her usual role and I enjoyed how completely natural she was. Although the teacher was just a supporting role, she was quite striking to me. I really enjoyed the film. If I'd rated it less than five stars, I'd have to be ashamed of myself. (27.07.2017)

I have been hearing about this film for a very long time, it always popped up somewhere and I was told that it is absolutely essential, a cult masterpiece. I have seen many photos and the rabbit has truly become cult for me. However, I expected something a bit different, something that would truly have a cult atmosphere. But I somehow don't understand why it should be so. Kelly is trying to present us with pseudo-metaphysical sci-fi, which is apparently very intellectually profound, but similar to the negative feelings I had about "Apocalypse", where he ultimately discussed a very similar topic, just visually different and with different actors, I have an immense impression of the shallowness of the script, which tries to address everything and actually solves nothing. A terribly deep film, which is deep only because there are references to a lot of unrelated things, there are references to various elements of our culture and suddenly it becomes something profound. Thank you, but no thanks. (14.04.2014)

Donnie Darko is exactly the kind of movie where almost everything works perfectly – a very original script, excellent directing, atmosphere!!!, great choice of music, and of course a cast that is ultra likable. Although I have my own interpretation of the ending and I really can't say in good conscience that I understood everything, the overall feeling is definitely five stars. (25.09.2010)

I’m giving it 4 stars for now, because I honestly couldn’t wrap my head around it, in a way that’s never happened to me before. (26.02.2013)