Donnie Darko FAQ: Explanation of What, How, & Why

[Tapion]

<b>so if he never traveled back the engine would have never hit the house to begin with... you with me?</b>

This is your first mistake, which I will address again later. If the engine would have never hit the house to begin with, why did the engine hit the house at the beginning of the movie?

<b>in one scene him and the man teacher were talking about if it was god then everything is predestined. this point is proven at the end when he jumps back because of the engine jumping back with him.</b>

That is the only scene God is even mentioned, and it's only mentioned because of the highly religious school he attended.

<b>why the manipulated dead wanted darko dead i dont know.</b>

He needed him to die or else the universe would end. I will explain this further when you mention "the tornado"

<b>i dont think the world was going to end, i think the hole in the sky was just a tornado... the manipulated dead wanted darko dead for some reason... maybe because darko killed him? dunno if anybody has a theory post</b>

Okay, the "tornado" you're thinking of is actually a worm hole that is responsible for the time travel loop that sent the engine in to donnie's room in the first place. That's why when the plane gets sucked in, it's safe to assume the engine from that plane got torn off and landed on donnie's house 28 days earlier through the worm hole (I forgot how many days it was). The end of the world/universe is referring to the paradox of that plane flying in to the wormhole and Donnie not dying from the engine. Every time Donnie does not go in to the wormhole, that timeline completely stops resulting in the end of the world/universe.

As for the manipulated dead, a.k.a. MD Frank, in order for the timeline to make sense, donnie was suppose to die. MD Frank is a 4-D being capable of traveling through time for the sole purpose of guiding Donnie to correct the timeline and result in no paradoxes. Donnie dying would then result in the engine number being inspected resulting in the plane not taking flight, resulting in no plane going through the worm hole when it comes out, which AGAIN results back in Donnie's original time, no plane engine coming through and crashing in the first place.

It can be difficult trying to imagine multiple timelines when we're so used to one.

[Dray]

The "fear and love guy" was there because his kiddie porn needed to be discovered in order for him to go to prison, in order for them all to get on that plane leaving Donnie alone to throw that party. No party, no MD Frank, no philosophy of time travel girl, no dead girlfriend.

[how]

the only thing i have to wonder is... since MD frank is created after donnie is saved by him how does it even happen to begin with. MD frank doesnt exist at the point in the TU when donnie needs to be saved so should go to sleep and be crushed by the artifact like at the end of the movie. but somehow MD frank is around to save him how could that possibly happen?

[dan769]

MD Frank has special powers and can move to any point within the TU and talk to the Living Receiver (Donnie). The TU starts at midnight Oct 2nd. Just after that Frank moves through time and wakes Donnie up to lure him out of the house. A few minutes later the jet engine lands in Donnie's bedroom.

Full movie explanation here:
www.donniedarko.org.uk/explanation/

[rinab]

When I watched the movie I had the impression that if the Artifact is not sent back that the PU would implode (or something), that is why MD Frank makes the Ensurance Trap.

As for the creation of MD Frank, time for us is an illusion. For MD Frank he has already died in the tangent universe despite the fact that Donnie exists before the death of ML Frank. Because MD Frank is not constrained by the 3rd dimension or time. MD Frank therefore is much like a separate entity because the ML Frank still lives at the beginning of the movie.

[clinnane]

I am brand new to the movie (saw it late last night) and have read / skimmed many explanations. I could not find any reference by anyone to one of the scenes I thought was most telling and also most mind boggling.

When DD is under hypnosis for the final time, Dr. Thurman asks him what else he regrets and he replies, "I've done it again, I flooded the school and burned down the house" (Little paraphrasing, but definitely says I've done it again). To me this gives very strong credence to the Groundhog Day theory of repeating the loop until you get it right, or the universe explodes.

Also, in this scene the Dr herself seems to suddenly be very knowing and understanding of what DD is facing and what he must do. Perhaps, similar to the last scene where all the MDs and MLs are disturbed by "memories" of the TU, she is experiencing some memory of previous incarnations of the TU?

This might also explain why Gretchen does not appear to DD like Frank. The reason being is that this is the first TU in which she is killed, which leads to DD successfully ending the loop? Certainly she does not appear to be guiding DD anywhere near as strong as Frank even though both are MDs...

Just my theories and thoughts to ponder

[dan769]

There is NO repeating cycle… If you go down that route you will never understand the film… that theory just asks more questions than it answers.

The Manipulated Living are being controlled by a higher force and Dr Thurman is a pivotal character in the plan. It’s possible she suddenly had an understanding but all the characters have an understanding, they just don’t realise it.

As far as Gretchen goes that’s very simple. Donnie has never met Frank before he wakes him up and lures him to the golf course. Frank is also dressed as a Bunny rabbit which makes him seem more mystical. Donnie must listen to Frank carefully and not just freak out when he sees him.

If his girlfriend suddenly started appearing to him in dead form that could be too much for him to understand and he may flip out or completely ignore her message. She does have a huge part to play in guiding Donnie into the trap though but she does all her work in her living form. She gets Donnie to fall in love with her and kill for her… In the real world she might not have been even slightly interested in Donnie, she was just performing her part in the grand plan.

[Phil]

i assumed (could be wrong) that "Ive done it again" reffered to the destruction of property - teeppeeing the house when he was younger, and now flooding hte school

[Aaron]

I feel a major character that is often forgotten is Jim Cunningham. He said that the main products of fear Of young people are surronding themselves with pre-marrital sex, drugs, and alcohol. Ironically, Donnie engages in all of these in his visits to the TU. He had sex with Gretchen, he smoked with his friends at the bus stop and was exposed to alcohol at his sisters party and and his little shooting range hideout. This could show more evidence of a time loop because it's like Donnie wanted to live up to what Jim Cunningham was saying to him about him being a prisoner fear.

[thepretender]

I think Jim Cunningham plays a huge role. Donnie sure did not take him and his love/fear stuff very seriously. The huge part of that for me was that it made me think about the 60's and "Question Authority".

We are the ones who give people power over our lives and Jim was loving the power he was getting.
That whole do as I say not as I do kind of thing that reminds us that society is not perfect and sometimes we run into people who 'should definitely not' have power.
I thought it was fun that Donnie was figuring that out in his teens. It took me 'til I was about 30!