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DILLON ON FILM
Donnie Darko: 25 Years On
Richard Kelly’s cult gem still baffles and beguiles a quarter of a century later
Warning: Contains spoilers
I first saw Donnie Darko at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, in October 2002, when it finally reached UK shores. By then, the reputation of writer-director Richard Kelly’s debut promised a brain-bending time travel tale both darkly comic and disturbing, so I was keen to see what all the fuss was about. By “fuss,” I should be clear and specify that I mean critical fuss from the likes of Empire magazine and Mark Kermode, not from US audiences, who gave the film a wide berth during its initial run.
Given the events of 11th September 2001, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Newmarket Films were reluctant to put much advertising budget behind a film that featured a crashing plane. However, the film’s cult following was already embryonic by the time I laid eyes on it. I was transfixed by Donnie Darko and loved it to bits. Equal parts baffling, bonkers, and brilliant, I emerged from the cinema agreeably bamboozled, but also strangely touched by what I’d seen. Repeat viewings were all but guaranteed.
A quarter of a century later, I can confirm Donnie Darko is a film I regularly revisit and always enjoy, despite still being…
