Watch Donnie Darko

This movie uses elements from science fiction and the paranormal in the plot. The story centers around the lead character of Donnie who is a teenager who leads a somewhat lonely existence. The lead character is played by a young Jake Gyllenhaal who has difficulty relating to other teens especially girls. A new family is moving into the house across the street from Donnie's when an airplane flying overhead unexpectedly breaks up and sets the scene for the rest of the movie.

After the break up of the airplane Donnie begins to experience some unusual events he cannot always explain. He has repeated visions of a large rabbit head which appears as more of a costume than a real head. These visions seem to coincide with a lot of unexplained events including a fire at his school. Donnie often has periods where he blacks out so he does not remember whether or not he was involved in any of the strange events when they occurred. He also begins to see strange trails like invisible cords, which appear to emanate from all of the people around him.

It is during the time after the airplane incident that Donnie meets the girl from the family who moved in across the street. Despite his shyness with girls he finds it easy to relate to this girl and the two of them soon become a couple. Donnie begins to experience feelings he has never had before and opens up to this girl in ways he never opened up to other people. During the course of the story, Donnie and his girlfriend Gretchen decide to attend a Halloween party thrown by one of the teens from their school.

The events surrounding the party begin to take an odd twist when Gretchen shows up worried about her mother. Donnie, Gretchen and some other bullies end up outside fighting when a car comes speeding down the street and ends up hitting Gretchen, instantly killing her. The driver of the car is wearing the same rabbit head which appeared in Donnie's visions. The unexpected turn of events places Donnie on a hill overlooking the neighborhood. He knows he has a choice to make which involves the break up of the airplane which occurred almost one month earlier. Ultimately, he makes the choice he believes is in the best interest for his girlfriend. The ending to this movie is highly unexpected, and changes the history of everything which occurred in the movie.