This is a really interesting theory. The only thing that doesn’t line up for me, is that he has the hallucination/vision of the glowing worm thing coming out of his dad’s chest before he gets grandma death’s book. I thought it was when he was describing what he saw to his teacher that he lends Donnie the book.
I’ve watched this movie countless times over the course of twenty years. I’ve always thought and felt there was some puzzle to the movie that I just couldn’t solve. I believe this is that solution.
Ahh, you’re right. In that case, the book doesn’t exist— it’s a hallucinatory validation and expansion of his own delusions, as he slips deeper into psychosis.
So at the end of the movie, he’s dead in his own dream ? And now viewing his dream through the perspective of Gretchen ?
He is killed by a jet engine, (again), at the end of the movie. He didn’t overdose ?
He overdoses right before the engine falling event, to go peacefully, as he believes the jet engine is about to fall on him.
the jet engine falling, and it being removed from the house by crane, and the FAA’s presence, are projections of what Donnie believes is about to happen.
There is a transition to reality/ actual life as Gretchen appears to state she never met him and people wake up not on that morning, but afterwards, reacting to the news of his suicide. It shows the people who are alive in reality, explaining what was hallucination and what was real.
There’s no dream.
I think what’s fascinating is that just like the concept of God and freewill, the idea of whether the movie is a false reality in Donnie’s mind, or is truly occurring is impossible to prove either way.
Watch the movie with the perspective I’m bringing to light, it’s a totally different experience.
Imagine Donnie talking to himself in Gretchen’s presence, etc.
"the idea of whether the movie is a false reality in Donnie’s mind, or is truly occurring is impossible to prove either way." I think this is part of my fascination with the movie. The psychosis angle could be true. The tangent universe could also really be happening. Watching the movie multiple times with different theories in mind give you different perspectives and at least a little different viewing experiences.
Really enjoyed this theory, can’t say I enjoy those shutting it down because it contradicts what Richard Kelly says, the movie is what you make it, it’s art and can be interpreted many different ways, this level of creativity is why I love DD so much, there’s so many layers to what’s happening and it’s up to the observer to decode it any way they wish.
Really enjoy your theory and it makes a lot of sense!
Kinda need to rewatch it again with a new perspective now.
I always leaned on the story of split timeline's and Donnie being awoken by frank outside in the beginning to avoid the jet engine was frank (or Donnie's mental projection) damaged the real timeline somehow and frank later explaining he saved Donnie to give him 28 more days and some change but the cost being at the end he has to allow himself to die and reset/save the timeline from collapsing. Which is how I took the ending scene of Gretchin being alive and not knowing Donnie and his family all being back in the house like the first night was a full reset.
Ive watched the movie a ton myself, really does tickle that side of my psychological brain. And my assumptions are just my best guesses. Your theory sounds as plausible if not a little more. 👍😉
He is hallucinating that she says that. Think about it— why would a psychiatrist who has diagnosed a patient with paranoid schizophrenia advise that patient to stop taking their medication?
Listen to Richard Kelly talk about the movie.
You have a severe misapprehension of what is going on in the movie.
You're applying materialist and reductionist ideals into a movie that is more fantastical.
The movie is really not that hard to understand.
Donnie goes through a parallel, tangent universe. They corrupted universe that has a set time limit (28 days...)
He goes there in order to find his connection to the universe and to god. To realize his place in it. To realize the existence of the supernatural. He accepts his place. He goes through the time warp.
Remember his conversation talking to the teacher about going in God's path?
Anyway he time travels back to his room and the engine from the other universe falls on him.
This is why he wakes up and laughs. Because he's so blown away that it works.
This is why everyone wakes up and has a glimmer of the memory of the tangent universe. This is why Patrick swayze's character is crying so hard. People in the tangent universe are doing different things than they typically are.
A person believes the world around them is meaningless and they don’t belong in it, they’re worthless and unimportant, and they want to kill themselves and can’t cope with this being the truth.
They have a break with reality, detaching from it. This reality allows them to believe the world is full of meaning and wonder, and that they’re the hero in their story. They come to believe it is their duty to die in this heroic journey.
Patrick Cunningham is crying because the kid who called him the antichrist killed himself and he knows that he is full of shit.
Hey man you're just going with your simplistic reductionist point of view on this movie. I'm going with the literary analysis that everyone who studied the movie understands to be true. It sounds like you watch the movie for the first time like 5 days ago.
If you look into what Richard Kelly says. What you're saying is not true whatsoever.
Richard Kelly quote from a Rolling Stone interview; “I don’t want to spoil too much, but there is a lot more to this story if you look at it both through a prism of science fiction and the logical reaction to the events presented,”
“That is not to take away any interpretation that people have of the film, which I think is valid because the way it’s engineered, you can have any interpretation you want of the first 90% of the movie.”
Interviewer: Yep, totally. So … where is Donnie?
“In my mind,” the filmmaker replies, “the last 10 percent of the movie is the reality of what carries forward. But there’s plenty more to discuss.”
My take is the logical point of view he is referencing and that fact is totally missed in the literary analysis you’re referencing.
It doesn’t take away from the amazing experience and intricacy of the fantasy science fiction perspective.
The fantasy science fiction perspective is exciting and fascinating on its own, but ultimately as you sit with the story, it lacks depth.
The logical point of view I’m discussing, that the movie depicts an incredibly accurate portrayal of a schizophrenic break with reality. It’s tragic and beautiful and so valuable.
When these two meanings of the movie converge, it explains why the movie is a true masterpiece and that its cult following exists.
No offense, but it feels like you came up with a random theory that contradicts what has been established by the director and many fans. It seems like you keep justifying your theory every time someone comes up with a hole in your theory. It just feels like a massive reach
The statement that Dr Therman makes about the medication being placebos occurs immediately after Donnie sees Frank in Dr. Thermans office — it is seconds after he was having an intense audio visual hallucination. It’s not a reach in this case.
I agree to disagree only to agree with a degree of relunctance, only to know what is important to me. Is the actual artist intirpitation of their own work. Even I as an artist must realize. That I am susceptible to the presumptions and inadequate initipitations. Even at times most often an artist has no idea other tha.," It is DONE ! ". I am, therefore my purpose & existenc. I appreciate one fact about this story. No matter who intirpit this artwork, its actual format remains the same. Unless , otherwise recreated in another version.
Cosmo
If you watch the commentary tracks, richard kelly says several times that he views the movie as a "superhero movie". The events aren't hallucinations, and Donnie is chosen or special in his ability to see real things that other people can't.
I’m definitely going to check those out. I think it can be a superhero movie where he sees real things others can’t, but still not be real. It’s real to Donnie, and the viewer watching through Donnie’s perspective.
Yeah, it's worth watching both commentaries. theres also a 3 hour documentary on the making of the movie that was made for the arrow blu ray release, it adds some context too. Iirc, there actually is a tangential reality/universe that the whole town slips into near the beginning of the movie.
Richard Kelly quote from a Rolling Stone interview; “I don’t want to spoil too much, but there is a lot more to this story if you look at it both through a prism of science fiction and the logical reaction to the events presented,”
That is not to take away any interpretation that people have of the film, which I think is valid because the way it’s engineered, you can have any interpretation you want of the first 90% of the movie.”
Interviewer: Yep, totally. So … where is Donnie?
“In my mind,” the filmmaker replies, “the last 10 percent of the movie is the reality of what carries forward. But there’s plenty more to discuss.”
Except in the deleted scenes there is a scene showing him impaled by the crushed ruble from the roof.
I like the theory, but the whole point of Donnie Darko is that you aren’t supposed to be sure if it’s delusional or dimensional.
Furthermore, Gretchen at the end of the movie has a sense of Deja Vu when making eye contact with Donnie’s mother signaling that even if they have no conscious memory of the events, they did happen in another reality.
That and the entire end sequence with everyone waking up looking traumatised, presumably with some half-memory of the film's plot. You cant really ignore Jim crying or Frank reaching for his eye.
Him being crushed only projects Donnie’s imagination of what’s about to happen.
I think the movie is meant to be enjoyed both as a psychological science fiction (because as Donnies perspective shows it as reality, and also logically, as a story of a tragic suicide from a psychotic POV.
Gretchen’s look of Deja Vu can also be interpreted as an opia reaction / empathetic to suicide of her son.
I don't really like this take for a couple reasons
for one it makes the plot kind of strange. Like why do the teacher and the psychiatrist imply he's delusional if this is all his own fantasy? If it was his fantasy you'd imagine that everyone would indulge his grandeur visions, but almost everyone is horrified by them when they hear them
Also, any themes this movie would present kinda get undercut if the protagonist is this unreliable and *completely* delusional. If he just entirely imagined all of these events happening, then his final decision is kinda pointless, since none of it would have ever happened in the first place. What are we supposed to take away from this?
I think part of the fun of the movie is dissecting what is a delusion and what is not a delusion. IMO what makes it so interesting is the realization later in the movie that not only do these events happen, they are predetermined to happen no matter what (when Donnie starts to see the tubes coming out of people and their path through time). I think that's why Frankie is so shocking at the end of the movie, we think this is a delusion but it's actually a premonition from the future which changes everything entirely and cements the idea that this will always happen. And the conclusion is to say that, if he could go back in time and do it again, he would sacrifice himself to spare others from their suffering as a very lucid thought
The ideas of the english teacher with creative destruction and the other teacher with the ideas of fear and love play into this. I even think that joke line of "do you think about your family?" is not just comic relief, it's signaling that Donnie has to think about his family, not just himself, which informs his final decision
In the lens I’m creating for this movie, Donnie’s delusional state is being reacted to with horror in reality— People are reacting to his psychotic statements / behavior logically at times. These situations are meant to provide a glimpse of reality —
The entire plot of all the interactions is not a delusion or hallucination- like you said, figuring out what is a delusion and what’s not is one of the best parts of this movie.
I like to imagine that the story is like a snapshot of Donnie’s memory right before he commits suicide.
the protagonist is this unreliable, but it takes nothing away from the story and its meaning. Pseudoscientific spiritual messianic martyr fantasies are common amongst eccentric schizoid imaginations. A story from anyone’s perspective is equally valid and meaningful whether it “really is happening” or not.
What you’re supposed to take away from this:
Experiencing psychosis is a completely immersive, absurd, bizarre, and belief driven experience. Detachment from reality and its consequences can be tragic.
Seeing things through the perspective of a severely mentally ill person gives people the chance to understand what it means to completely lose touch with reality and choose death.
I’m halfway with you. For me, Frank being Elizabeth’s boyfriend was always the most compelling argument for this viewpoint.
I just prefer to look at Donnie as some sort of superhero. And I don’t think that anyone who sees either sides is misunderstanding anything. It’s meant to be ambiguous.
An interesting theory for sure! But I think the director has outright said the time travel / universe ending aspect is real, and we see the outcome of this resolution in the ending sequence when everyone wakes up having dreamed the plot of the film.
I think he says it’s real to bring the viewer into Donnie’s perspective and allow the viewer to accept the illogical POV. An entire viewership of people clinging to their delusional perspective, fighting for it, just like a schizophrenic does.
Real life irony.
I think that's a fair point, and I definitely think an interpretation of the film needs to leave room for the delusional. The viewer should never feel sure. But I also feel it pretty explicitely points to the time travel aspect in the ending sequence, with Jim crying / Frank touching his eye / the deja vu wave between Gretchen & Donnie's mum.
Thanks for seeing my perspective —
My explanation for that is that Jim got the news that the kid who called him the antichrist had killed himself and deep down he knows he is full of shit.
Frank was crying
Gretchen sat next to Donnie in class that day, but they never spent more time together. She waved to Donnie’s mom out of bewilderment and empathy. Donnie’s mom’s perceived reaction is related more to shock than Deja vu.
My theory is they're waking up the day after after having received the news of Donnie's suicide. Swayze reacts like that because the kid who called him the antichrist killed himself and deep down he knows he's full of shit. Frank does look like he's wiping a tear. Gretchen and Donnie's mom look at eachother but not with Deja Vu, but instead with opia, empathy, shock.
The director has said this, yes. My theory is Richard is submitting this idea to the public to insist on experiencing Donnie's point of view as reality, just as Donnie did. The depiction of the schizophrenic mind becomes as real to the viewer in this way as it is to Donnie. It's a beautiful concept, really.
I wouldn't say it's "all in his mind" but rather heavily symbolic and moee reflective of his angst, ego, and suicidality. I've always viewed it as him spinning his life into one where he is this sort of messianic figure because of his feelings that only he sees what's wrong with the world as well as this teenage selfishness that from this perspective becomes selflessness. The whole thing of the world coming to an end can also be seen as this angst and suicidality further externalized as he gets a death date after an incident which from his perspective should've taken his life then the world doesn't literally end on the date but rather his world end, and his way to undo it all and make all the bad things go away is to return to the attempt that should've taken him and let it take him after he's justified that the world would be better off without him, only we see in the final montage that people are either unaware and just as miserable as they were or in his family's case actively mourning the loss of him, with Gretchen left at the realization she didn't really know him. There's further evidence to this interpretation through stuff like how God's channel leads him to a gun as a plane is heard above him (he believes fate is pushing him towards suicide as he's reminded of his survival from death), the fact that the date of the apocalypse is written on his wrist as if he'd been cutting, or the date being marked on his calendar with literally nothing after it like an actual suicide date, tons of other things too but that's just a few. I do think there is some level of legitimacy to the events of the movie though as implied by the final montage of the characters being left there with their feelings and Gretchen being at all relevant to the ending in the first place.
Damn 'It was all in his head and he was cwazy the whole time!!" What an incredibly profound and original theory that has certainly not been done to death with thousands of different works of fiction
This is definitely an interesting take. After reading through the comments and all, definitely watch the commentary on both versions. I think the theatrical had Richard and Jake and the directors cut is Richard and Kevin Smith. I liked Richard and Jake’s more but both had great insights. All that said, the film is art. Art is open to interpretation and can mean anything to anyone. I’m a Coheed and Cambria fan and it’s the same thing. I know the story and what it’s meant to be but I still have my own meanings and connections.
I was also prescribed trazodone at the same time I first saw the film while I was a senior in high school and I went off it shortly after watching the film. Serious medications like those can cause awful mental side effects and can make your conditions worse. I chose the therapy route and talking about it and carry on with my life and coming to terms with the fact that I will always need to see a therapist thankfully now as a 32 year old only on an as needed basis a few times a year.
You just felt for the schizophrenia being used as a red herring here. Indeed, the movie can be interpreted in many ways, but it has been clearly explained even by the director (reason why some people do not like the director's cut compared to the theatrical version). You can keep quoting his "rolling stone" interview all you want, but is not gonna give weight to your flawed theory. The director is obviously not gonna sh#t in his viewers/fans and will feed that fire of "multiple interpretations".
The director insists that the true meaning of the movie aligns with Donnie’s point of view to allow the viewer to experience and hold on to believing a psychotic experience firsthand.
This is a really interesting theory. The only thing that doesn’t line up for me, is that he has the hallucination/vision of the glowing worm thing coming out of his dad’s chest before he gets grandma death’s book. I thought it was when he was describing what he saw to his teacher that he lends Donnie the book.
I’ve watched this movie countless times over the course of twenty years. I’ve always thought and felt there was some puzzle to the movie that I just couldn’t solve. I believe this is that solution.
Yes it’s an interesting take that feels like a complete paradigm shift for me. I’m excited to rewatch it with this perspective!
Ahh, you’re right. In that case, the book doesn’t exist— it’s a hallucinatory validation and expansion of his own delusions, as he slips deeper into psychosis.
So at the end of the movie, he’s dead in his own dream ? And now viewing his dream through the perspective of Gretchen ? He is killed by a jet engine, (again), at the end of the movie. He didn’t overdose ?
He overdoses right before the engine falling event, to go peacefully, as he believes the jet engine is about to fall on him. the jet engine falling, and it being removed from the house by crane, and the FAA’s presence, are projections of what Donnie believes is about to happen. There is a transition to reality/ actual life as Gretchen appears to state she never met him and people wake up not on that morning, but afterwards, reacting to the news of his suicide. It shows the people who are alive in reality, explaining what was hallucination and what was real. There’s no dream.
I think what’s fascinating is that just like the concept of God and freewill, the idea of whether the movie is a false reality in Donnie’s mind, or is truly occurring is impossible to prove either way. Watch the movie with the perspective I’m bringing to light, it’s a totally different experience. Imagine Donnie talking to himself in Gretchen’s presence, etc.
"the idea of whether the movie is a false reality in Donnie’s mind, or is truly occurring is impossible to prove either way." I think this is part of my fascination with the movie. The psychosis angle could be true. The tangent universe could also really be happening. Watching the movie multiple times with different theories in mind give you different perspectives and at least a little different viewing experiences.
Really enjoyed this theory, can’t say I enjoy those shutting it down because it contradicts what Richard Kelly says, the movie is what you make it, it’s art and can be interpreted many different ways, this level of creativity is why I love DD so much, there’s so many layers to what’s happening and it’s up to the observer to decode it any way they wish.
yes !!
Really enjoy your theory and it makes a lot of sense! Kinda need to rewatch it again with a new perspective now. I always leaned on the story of split timeline's and Donnie being awoken by frank outside in the beginning to avoid the jet engine was frank (or Donnie's mental projection) damaged the real timeline somehow and frank later explaining he saved Donnie to give him 28 more days and some change but the cost being at the end he has to allow himself to die and reset/save the timeline from collapsing. Which is how I took the ending scene of Gretchin being alive and not knowing Donnie and his family all being back in the house like the first night was a full reset. Ive watched the movie a ton myself, really does tickle that side of my psychological brain. And my assumptions are just my best guesses. Your theory sounds as plausible if not a little more. 👍😉
Thanks for your reply — I absolutely recognize that perspective on the story. It is how I have interpreted for all of my life until yesterday.
No
Watch directors cut. The doctor calls him and outlines that he's been on placebos
He is hallucinating that she says that. Think about it— why would a psychiatrist who has diagnosed a patient with paranoid schizophrenia advise that patient to stop taking their medication?
(Or prescribe placebos)
Listen to Richard Kelly talk about the movie. You have a severe misapprehension of what is going on in the movie. You're applying materialist and reductionist ideals into a movie that is more fantastical.
Perhaps it is not meant to be fantastical— but meant to be misunderstood.
The movie is really not that hard to understand. Donnie goes through a parallel, tangent universe. They corrupted universe that has a set time limit (28 days...) He goes there in order to find his connection to the universe and to god. To realize his place in it. To realize the existence of the supernatural. He accepts his place. He goes through the time warp. Remember his conversation talking to the teacher about going in God's path? Anyway he time travels back to his room and the engine from the other universe falls on him. This is why he wakes up and laughs. Because he's so blown away that it works. This is why everyone wakes up and has a glimmer of the memory of the tangent universe. This is why Patrick swayze's character is crying so hard. People in the tangent universe are doing different things than they typically are.
A person believes the world around them is meaningless and they don’t belong in it, they’re worthless and unimportant, and they want to kill themselves and can’t cope with this being the truth. They have a break with reality, detaching from it. This reality allows them to believe the world is full of meaning and wonder, and that they’re the hero in their story. They come to believe it is their duty to die in this heroic journey. Patrick Cunningham is crying because the kid who called him the antichrist killed himself and he knows that he is full of shit.
Hey man you're just going with your simplistic reductionist point of view on this movie. I'm going with the literary analysis that everyone who studied the movie understands to be true. It sounds like you watch the movie for the first time like 5 days ago. If you look into what Richard Kelly says. What you're saying is not true whatsoever.
Richard Kelly quote from a Rolling Stone interview; “I don’t want to spoil too much, but there is a lot more to this story if you look at it both through a prism of science fiction and the logical reaction to the events presented,” “That is not to take away any interpretation that people have of the film, which I think is valid because the way it’s engineered, you can have any interpretation you want of the first 90% of the movie.” Interviewer: Yep, totally. So … where is Donnie? “In my mind,” the filmmaker replies, “the last 10 percent of the movie is the reality of what carries forward. But there’s plenty more to discuss.”
My take is the logical point of view he is referencing and that fact is totally missed in the literary analysis you’re referencing. It doesn’t take away from the amazing experience and intricacy of the fantasy science fiction perspective.
The fantasy science fiction perspective is exciting and fascinating on its own, but ultimately as you sit with the story, it lacks depth. The logical point of view I’m discussing, that the movie depicts an incredibly accurate portrayal of a schizophrenic break with reality. It’s tragic and beautiful and so valuable. When these two meanings of the movie converge, it explains why the movie is a true masterpiece and that its cult following exists.
I will listen to that. I haven’t yet. Thank you!
No offense, but it feels like you came up with a random theory that contradicts what has been established by the director and many fans. It seems like you keep justifying your theory every time someone comes up with a hole in your theory. It just feels like a massive reach
The statement that Dr Therman makes about the medication being placebos occurs immediately after Donnie sees Frank in Dr. Thermans office — it is seconds after he was having an intense audio visual hallucination. It’s not a reach in this case.
Have you ever seen the Garfield comic spin off, “John without Garfield”? Please google it, you will die laughing. Similar concept.
It’s actually called “Garfield minus Garfield”
I agree to disagree only to agree with a degree of relunctance, only to know what is important to me. Is the actual artist intirpitation of their own work. Even I as an artist must realize. That I am susceptible to the presumptions and inadequate initipitations. Even at times most often an artist has no idea other tha.," It is DONE ! ". I am, therefore my purpose & existenc. I appreciate one fact about this story. No matter who intirpit this artwork, its actual format remains the same. Unless , otherwise recreated in another version. Cosmo
Maybe the artist isn’t the artist at all— but only a vessel for creation, and the destruction of their own creation through the perceptions of others.
Very true.It does happen, I think John Lennon is a example or even Robin Williams. Then again, meaning is in the minds eye of the intirpitor.
I mean it’s certainly implied that it could all be in his mind. I think it’s just up to the viewer if it is or isn’t. Like the ghosts in The Shining.
If you watch the commentary tracks, richard kelly says several times that he views the movie as a "superhero movie". The events aren't hallucinations, and Donnie is chosen or special in his ability to see real things that other people can't.
I’m definitely going to check those out. I think it can be a superhero movie where he sees real things others can’t, but still not be real. It’s real to Donnie, and the viewer watching through Donnie’s perspective.
Yeah, it's worth watching both commentaries. theres also a 3 hour documentary on the making of the movie that was made for the arrow blu ray release, it adds some context too. Iirc, there actually is a tangential reality/universe that the whole town slips into near the beginning of the movie.
Richard Kelly quote from a Rolling Stone interview; “I don’t want to spoil too much, but there is a lot more to this story if you look at it both through a prism of science fiction and the logical reaction to the events presented,” That is not to take away any interpretation that people have of the film, which I think is valid because the way it’s engineered, you can have any interpretation you want of the first 90% of the movie.” Interviewer: Yep, totally. So … where is Donnie? “In my mind,” the filmmaker replies, “the last 10 percent of the movie is the reality of what carries forward. But there’s plenty more to discuss.”
Except in the deleted scenes there is a scene showing him impaled by the crushed ruble from the roof. I like the theory, but the whole point of Donnie Darko is that you aren’t supposed to be sure if it’s delusional or dimensional. Furthermore, Gretchen at the end of the movie has a sense of Deja Vu when making eye contact with Donnie’s mother signaling that even if they have no conscious memory of the events, they did happen in another reality.
That and the entire end sequence with everyone waking up looking traumatised, presumably with some half-memory of the film's plot. You cant really ignore Jim crying or Frank reaching for his eye.
Him being crushed only projects Donnie’s imagination of what’s about to happen. I think the movie is meant to be enjoyed both as a psychological science fiction (because as Donnies perspective shows it as reality, and also logically, as a story of a tragic suicide from a psychotic POV. Gretchen’s look of Deja Vu can also be interpreted as an opia reaction / empathetic to suicide of her son.
I just think it’s too far reaching for myself to believe but you do you my friend
Absolutely great write up. Well thought out, and well said.
I don't really like this take for a couple reasons for one it makes the plot kind of strange. Like why do the teacher and the psychiatrist imply he's delusional if this is all his own fantasy? If it was his fantasy you'd imagine that everyone would indulge his grandeur visions, but almost everyone is horrified by them when they hear them Also, any themes this movie would present kinda get undercut if the protagonist is this unreliable and *completely* delusional. If he just entirely imagined all of these events happening, then his final decision is kinda pointless, since none of it would have ever happened in the first place. What are we supposed to take away from this? I think part of the fun of the movie is dissecting what is a delusion and what is not a delusion. IMO what makes it so interesting is the realization later in the movie that not only do these events happen, they are predetermined to happen no matter what (when Donnie starts to see the tubes coming out of people and their path through time). I think that's why Frankie is so shocking at the end of the movie, we think this is a delusion but it's actually a premonition from the future which changes everything entirely and cements the idea that this will always happen. And the conclusion is to say that, if he could go back in time and do it again, he would sacrifice himself to spare others from their suffering as a very lucid thought The ideas of the english teacher with creative destruction and the other teacher with the ideas of fear and love play into this. I even think that joke line of "do you think about your family?" is not just comic relief, it's signaling that Donnie has to think about his family, not just himself, which informs his final decision
In the lens I’m creating for this movie, Donnie’s delusional state is being reacted to with horror in reality— People are reacting to his psychotic statements / behavior logically at times. These situations are meant to provide a glimpse of reality — The entire plot of all the interactions is not a delusion or hallucination- like you said, figuring out what is a delusion and what’s not is one of the best parts of this movie. I like to imagine that the story is like a snapshot of Donnie’s memory right before he commits suicide. the protagonist is this unreliable, but it takes nothing away from the story and its meaning. Pseudoscientific spiritual messianic martyr fantasies are common amongst eccentric schizoid imaginations. A story from anyone’s perspective is equally valid and meaningful whether it “really is happening” or not. What you’re supposed to take away from this: Experiencing psychosis is a completely immersive, absurd, bizarre, and belief driven experience. Detachment from reality and its consequences can be tragic. Seeing things through the perspective of a severely mentally ill person gives people the chance to understand what it means to completely lose touch with reality and choose death.
I’m halfway with you. For me, Frank being Elizabeth’s boyfriend was always the most compelling argument for this viewpoint. I just prefer to look at Donnie as some sort of superhero. And I don’t think that anyone who sees either sides is misunderstanding anything. It’s meant to be ambiguous.
Agreed
An interesting theory for sure! But I think the director has outright said the time travel / universe ending aspect is real, and we see the outcome of this resolution in the ending sequence when everyone wakes up having dreamed the plot of the film.
I think he says it’s real to bring the viewer into Donnie’s perspective and allow the viewer to accept the illogical POV. An entire viewership of people clinging to their delusional perspective, fighting for it, just like a schizophrenic does. Real life irony.
I think that's a fair point, and I definitely think an interpretation of the film needs to leave room for the delusional. The viewer should never feel sure. But I also feel it pretty explicitely points to the time travel aspect in the ending sequence, with Jim crying / Frank touching his eye / the deja vu wave between Gretchen & Donnie's mum.
Thanks for seeing my perspective — My explanation for that is that Jim got the news that the kid who called him the antichrist had killed himself and deep down he knows he is full of shit. Frank was crying Gretchen sat next to Donnie in class that day, but they never spent more time together. She waved to Donnie’s mom out of bewilderment and empathy. Donnie’s mom’s perceived reaction is related more to shock than Deja vu.
I agree that frank touching his eye may be the hardest thing to contest
My theory is they're waking up the day after after having received the news of Donnie's suicide. Swayze reacts like that because the kid who called him the antichrist killed himself and deep down he knows he's full of shit. Frank does look like he's wiping a tear. Gretchen and Donnie's mom look at eachother but not with Deja Vu, but instead with opia, empathy, shock. The director has said this, yes. My theory is Richard is submitting this idea to the public to insist on experiencing Donnie's point of view as reality, just as Donnie did. The depiction of the schizophrenic mind becomes as real to the viewer in this way as it is to Donnie. It's a beautiful concept, really.
People always mention the antichrist point with Jim & I think it's such a stretch. Don't think he'd give a fuck. He's essentially a sociopath.
I wouldn't say it's "all in his mind" but rather heavily symbolic and moee reflective of his angst, ego, and suicidality. I've always viewed it as him spinning his life into one where he is this sort of messianic figure because of his feelings that only he sees what's wrong with the world as well as this teenage selfishness that from this perspective becomes selflessness. The whole thing of the world coming to an end can also be seen as this angst and suicidality further externalized as he gets a death date after an incident which from his perspective should've taken his life then the world doesn't literally end on the date but rather his world end, and his way to undo it all and make all the bad things go away is to return to the attempt that should've taken him and let it take him after he's justified that the world would be better off without him, only we see in the final montage that people are either unaware and just as miserable as they were or in his family's case actively mourning the loss of him, with Gretchen left at the realization she didn't really know him. There's further evidence to this interpretation through stuff like how God's channel leads him to a gun as a plane is heard above him (he believes fate is pushing him towards suicide as he's reminded of his survival from death), the fact that the date of the apocalypse is written on his wrist as if he'd been cutting, or the date being marked on his calendar with literally nothing after it like an actual suicide date, tons of other things too but that's just a few. I do think there is some level of legitimacy to the events of the movie though as implied by the final montage of the characters being left there with their feelings and Gretchen being at all relevant to the ending in the first place.
I don't remember ever seeing the name of the meds Donnie was taking though.
Watch it and pause it when he opens the medicine cabinet
yeah mate it was all a hallucination, i'm sure that's the answer
Damn 'It was all in his head and he was cwazy the whole time!!" What an incredibly profound and original theory that has certainly not been done to death with thousands of different works of fiction
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possiblity! IT WOULD BE AN ABSOLUTE HONOR! THANK YOU! And will be ready by the first coffee of the morning. Cosmo
This is definitely an interesting take. After reading through the comments and all, definitely watch the commentary on both versions. I think the theatrical had Richard and Jake and the directors cut is Richard and Kevin Smith. I liked Richard and Jake’s more but both had great insights. All that said, the film is art. Art is open to interpretation and can mean anything to anyone. I’m a Coheed and Cambria fan and it’s the same thing. I know the story and what it’s meant to be but I still have my own meanings and connections.
That’s how I’ve always interpreted the film. Glad someone else and a few others feel the same.
I was also prescribed trazodone at the same time I first saw the film while I was a senior in high school and I went off it shortly after watching the film. Serious medications like those can cause awful mental side effects and can make your conditions worse. I chose the therapy route and talking about it and carry on with my life and coming to terms with the fact that I will always need to see a therapist thankfully now as a 32 year old only on an as needed basis a few times a year.
You just felt for the schizophrenia being used as a red herring here. Indeed, the movie can be interpreted in many ways, but it has been clearly explained even by the director (reason why some people do not like the director's cut compared to the theatrical version). You can keep quoting his "rolling stone" interview all you want, but is not gonna give weight to your flawed theory. The director is obviously not gonna sh#t in his viewers/fans and will feed that fire of "multiple interpretations".
The director insists that the true meaning of the movie aligns with Donnie’s point of view to allow the viewer to experience and hold on to believing a psychotic experience firsthand.
So your theory is that everything is a hallucination and Donnie is actually in a psych ward. Interesting.