It’s up there with discovering bands like Radiohead, or rappers like Odd Future, as formative adolescent experiences. Credit: © Newmarket Releasing/Everett Collectionīy now, watching Donnie Darko is like a rite of passage for young people everywhere. Jake Gyllenhaal and director Richard Kelly, on set, 2001. Which is to say it is a singular cinematic achievement.
It’s one of those movies that you can dissect for 20 years and get absolutely nowhere in terms of understanding. Bits of ideas click together, and just as easily unclasp, latching onto the next floating fragmentation.
Its plot feels like having the pieces from a dozen separate puzzles dumped over your head at once.
The movie is more fever-dream than coherent narrative. After being compelled to wander the streets by a scary-looking guy in a rabbit costume named Frank, our protagonist discovers that he alone holds the keys for preventing the apocalypse - or something like that. Released wide on October 26th, 2001, Donnie Darko tells the story of a troubled teenager named Donnie who’s prone to bouts of depression, as well as the occasional late-night sleepwalking session. 'Dune' for Dummies: Everything You Need to Know Going Into the Sci-Fi Blockbuster 'Halloween Kills'.Your Desire to See Any More 'Halloween' Movies There Are Crazed, Manic Cult Movies - and Then There's 'Possession' “When I wrote that costume into the screenplay, I never thought it would ever become anything iconic because to me it was just a simple idea - one of those costumes that you buy at Kmart or something.” I hadn’t seen her wearing that costume, but I think that’s great,” Kelly says. In the music video for Bridgers’ single “I Know the End,” she even accents the jumpsuit with a grey zip-up sweatshirt, just like the one Jake Gyllenhaal, playing the film’s titular character, wore in the movie’s climax. The look is partly a reference to Donnie Darko, Kelly’s debut feature. The cover art for her groundbreaking album, Punisher, features the musician wearing a Halloween-esque skeleton costume in the California desert, her neck craned towards the sky. Over Zoom, I ask the writer and director Richard Kelly if he’s aware of Phoebe Bridgers. Our What The Hell Just Happened? line-up includes Urzila Carlson, Harley Breen, Becky Lucas, Michael Hing, Beau Ryan, Jess Eva, Nazeem Hussain, Julia Morris, Waleed Aly, Susan Carland, Eddie Perfect, Myf Warhurst, Joel Creasey, Julie Bishop, Narelda Jacobs, Daniel Doody, Andy Allen, Bianca Chatfield, Jordan Nguyen and Adam Spencer.MCDDODA EC048 - Credit: © Newmarket Releasing/Everett Collection
Narrated by comedian, television and radio presenter Kate Langbroek, our 20 funny, intelligent, and opinionated celebrities will discuss, dissect and deliberate on everything from life in lockdown, to Kanye West running for the President Of The United States. Premiering Monday, 5 April at 7.30pm on 10, we check in with Australia’s most prolific media personalities, as they reflect on the year that was, and what could possibly lie ahead. What The Hell Just Happened? seems like an appropriate question to ask, given the events of the past year. Premieres Monday, 5 April At 7.30pm On 10.