It starts in 1998, during the presidential election. One night, a teenager named Donnie Darko sleepwalks out of his house. He sees a giant, demonic-looking rabbit named Frank, who tells him that the world will soon come to an end. He tells Donnie that it will end in exactly twenty-eight days, six hours, forty-two minutes, and twelve seconds. When he returns home the next morning, he finds that a jet engine crashed through his bedroom. As he wonders why he survived, Frank starts to manipulate his mind into committing crimes. The film moves from bizarre events, dreams, and time travel. The film is also famous for its notable end. Do you wonder what happened at the end of it? Well, tread no further. We’ve got the answer! But be careful, there are spoilers ahead!
Donnie Darko Ending Explained
The ending of the Donnie Darko film sees Donnie choosing to stay in bed and dying from the crash. While living in the tangent universe, he has lost everything. He escapes death, finds love, and is successful in getting Him detained. When he throws a party in his home, he ends up losing Gretchen and then also becomes a murderer. He lives in this universe, but he loses everything. Now he has one choice in front of him, and it’s an obvious one. He can use his powers to send the jet engine back in time before the tangent universe collapses. Donnie does exactly that, ripping the jet engine and sending it back through time. In the end, we see him in the earlier scene when the Jet Engine crashes into his bedroom. But what about the dreams that the Manipulated have? We know that the Manipulated are haunted by the dreams of the Tangent Universe. The dreams are actually the experiences they had in that universe. However, many of them don’t remember, and those that do, are overcome with great regret and sadness. We see how this time when the jet engine crashes, everyone in this corrected primary universe remembers their experiences. Donnie also wakes up, laughing. He knows what will happen to him if he lives and decides not to leave the bed. The jet engine comes crashing down, and he dies. All other manipulated ones remember their experiences as dreams now. In the end, Gretchen stops near Donnie’s house and asks a kid about what happened. The kid tells her that Donnie got crushed by the jet engine. She remembers her experiences, too; it’s clear when she waves at Donnie’s mom with a sense of familiarity.
Did Donnie Have to Die?
Now, coming to Donnie’s fate at the end. Did it have to be that way? Did Donnie have to die? Was his death the central cog to correct the universe’s stability? The answer is no. There’s no relation between Donnie’s death and the stability of the universe. But then why does he choose to die if he could just walk off? That’s most probably because he knows what becomes of the living receiver, courtesy of Roberta Sparrow. She lives as a paranoid person. Most probably, Donnie thinks it’s better to call it a life than live like her. He returns to his bed, laughing, making peace with himself, and choosing death. Watch the trailer here;
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