Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a bright and
charming high-school student who also has a dark and willfully eccentric side;
he does little to mask his contempt for many of his peers and enjoys
challenging the authority of the adults around him. Donnie is also visited on
occasion by Frank, a monstrous six-foot rabbit that only Donnie can see who
often urges him to perform dangerous and destructive pranks. Late one night,
Frank leads Donnie out of his home to inform him that the world will come to an
end in less than a month; moments later, the engine of a jet aircraft comes
crashing through the ceiling of Donnie's room, making him think there might be
something to Frank's prophesies after all. The rest of Donnie's world is only
marginally less bizarre, as he finds himself dealing with his confused parents
(Mary McDonnell and Holmes Osborne), his college-age sister (Maggie
Gyllenhaal), his perplexed analyst (Katherine Ross), a rebellious English
teacher (Drew Barrymore), a sleazy self-help expert (Patrick Swayze), and the
new girl at school who is attracted by Donnie's quirks (Jena Malone). Donnie
Darko was the first feature film from writer and director Richard Kelly; Drew
Barrymore, who plays teacher Karen Pomeroy, also lent her support to the
project as executive producer.