Movies - TV
A Simple Breakdown Of The Donnie Darko Ending
By BJ COLANGELO
The sci-fi psychological thriller "Donnie Darko" is still a favorite among many. Despite being decades old, the film is still being analyzed and debated, particularly its ending.
The film follows a mentally unwell teenager named Donnie as he sees visions of a man-size rabbit called Frank, who tells him that the world is going to end.
One morning, Donnie wakes up on a golf course after a night of sleepwalking to discover a jet engine crashed through his bedroom, which would have killed him.
The film deals with time travel and alternate universes, making the story hard to understand. When Donnie sleepwalks, he sees the alternate world Frank is warning him about.
Director Richard Kelly deliberately leaves out the answer as to why the tangent universe exists. However, a tie-in website does offer an explanation of its nature.
The website includes text from the character Roberta Sparrow's book "The Philosophy of Time Travel," which says, "If a Tangent Universe occurs it will be highly unstable."
The text continues, reading, "Eventually it will collapse upon itself, forming a black hole within the Primary Universe capable of destroying all existence."
The movie ends with Donnie sacrificing himself to bring the jet engine — called the Artifact in Sparrow's book — from the tangent universe back to his original reality.
Sparrow's book indicates the Living Receiver has a mission to return The Artifact. In this instance, Donnie becomes the Living Receiver and brings the engine back.
Rather than living in the dark alternate future, Donnie chooses to save others by being home when the engine falls, all while laughing at the absurdity of his situation.