Introduction shot pans over dark forest and blue sky/sunrise. Throughout the movie, scenes are mostly cool-toned and dark.
Donnie has not been taking his prescribed meds, and his parents find out. Later that night, he sleepwalks and meets a figure in a rabbit-costume named Frank who leads him to a golf course. He does not sleep at home overnight so he is not killed by an engine that crashes into his room. Frank tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.
Donnie floods his school during one of his sleepwalking episodes, and the police start investigating to try and find out who did it. School is cancelled that day, and he runs into the new girl, Gretchen, during his walk home. He talks to her about his "emotional problems."
Donnie's science teacher gives him a book about time travel, written by Roberta Sparrow. Sparrow is nicknamed Grandma Death, and has already come in to contact with Donnie in an earlier scene. Darko later tells his therapist that he thinks Frank wants him to talk to Sparrow, because Frank introduced him to the idea of time travel.
It is written in the book "The Philosophy of Time Travel," that living receivers are blessed with fourth-dimensional powers, and often hallucinate. Darko is able to see the future path of others in the form of this stream that comes out of peoples' chests.
Gretchen and Donnie go to the movies, and when Gretchen falls asleep Donnie sees Frank. He takes off his rabbit suit, and shows that he is missing an eye, and opens a portal to prove to Donnie that time travel is real. After this encounter, Darko leaves sleeping Gretchen to go burn down a house after Frank motivates him to do so.
During therapy, Darko is hypnotized and confesses to flooding the school, and burning a house. He sees Frank again and says "the sky's gonna open up."
Darko frantically leaves his sister's party with Gretchen and two of his friends, because he says he needs to see Grandma Death and Frank. A speeding car shows up to the location and runs over Gretchen while trying to avoid hitting GD in the middle of the road. A man in a rabbit costume steps out of the driver's seat and is shot in the eye by Donnie.
Using his powers, Donnie rips the engine off the plane his mom and sister are traveling on. The plane is in the tangent universe, but the engine falls into the primary universe, and is headed towards Donnie's room. He stares into the vortex and says "I'm going home."
He was supposed to die in the beginning, but avoided it by being lured out by Frank. In this alternate timeline, Donnie is aware of time travel and chooses to be killed by the plane engine. Gretchen questions what has happened because in this universe, she never met Donnie.
Donnie Darko has psychological issues, which he has to takes medications for prescribed by his psychiatrist. He stops taking his meds, which leads him to sleepwalk frequently. One night he sees a man in a rabbit costume named Frank, who leads him to a golf course where he tells him exactly when the world will end. This human rabbit Frank, that only Donnie can see, motivates him to commit a series of crimes.
Words: wormhole, apocalypse, dimension, receiver, manipulated
Thesis: Donnie accepts his death, and is guided by a man in rabbit suit who shows him what will happen if he continues to live.
October 31st is the day the world is supposed to end, James Duval plays Frank.
Marin_DonnieDarko from UIC DESIGN on Vimeo.