film written and directed by Richard Kelly
and starring Jake Gyllenhaal
, Drew Barrymore
, Patrick Swayze
, Maggie Gyllenhaal
, Noah Wyle
, Jena Malone
, and Mary McDonnell
. The film depicts the reality-bending adventures of the title character as he seeks the meaning and significance behind his troubling Doomsday-related
visions.
Budgeted with $4.5 million and filmed over the course of 28 days, the film missed breaking even at the box office, grossing just over $4.1 million worldwide.
[in a letter] Dear Roberta Sparrow, I reached into your book and... there's so many things i need to ask you. Sometimes I'm afraid of what you might tell me. Sometimes I'm afraid that you'll tell me that this is not a work of fiction. I can only hope that the answers will come to me in my sleep. I hope that when the world comes to an end, I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.
[reading his poem in class] A storm is coming, Frank says / A storm that will swallow the children / And I will deliver them from the kingdom of pain / I will deliver the children back to their doorsteps / And send the monsters back to the underground / I'll send them back to a place where no-one else can see them / Except for me / Because I am Donnie Darko.
Some people are just born with tragedy in their blood.
What if you could go back in time, and take all those hours of pain and darkness and replace them with something better?
Okay, now girls... I want you to concentrate. Failure is not an option. And Bethany, if you feel the need to vomit up there... just swallow it.
Life is one long insane trip. Some people just have better directions.
You can never go too far.
What would you do if you knew the future?
Be Afraid of the Dark