Donnie Darko

In 1997, aged 22 and having just graduated, Richard Kelly began working on the screenplay for his first film. Once the story was complete, he found a film studio willing to finance the project, with himself set to direct. On a modest budget of $4.5 million, he made Donnie Darko in 2001, a bizarre mix of coming-of-age drama, science fiction and horror, full of mysterious and apocalyptic imagery, starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Almost immediately, the film achieved cult status, as did the soundtrack song Mad World, performed by Gary Jules.

On 2 October 1988, the troubled teenager Donald ‘Donnie’ Darko went outside whilst sleepwalking. There he meets Frank, a figure dressed in a hideous rabbit costume who tells him that the world will cease to exist in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Upon waking, he returns home only to discover that an aeroplane engine has crashed through the roof of the house and into his bedroom. In the days that follow, Frank continues to reappear in his visions. Is he losing his mind, or is something else going on?