Geeking out about higher ed since 2013.
Welcome to this wrap-up of the month of October's movie reviews from Netflix. All these titles are available to stream (or were at the time) so check out my thoughts to find something cool to watch!
This week's movie is 2001's Donnie Darko, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, and Drew Barrymore among others.
I've heard about this movie since high school, so I saw it available on Netflix to stream and figured I'd finally give it a try. I never really knew what it was about or what to expect.
The movie's basic premise is that Donnie Darko (Gyllenhaal) is a troubled high school student who is quirky and misunderstood by his family. He sleepwalks, and also begins to have prophetic visions of a man in a bunny costume that predicts "the end of the world". Donnie tries to find answers on his own and explores everything from time travel, God, and fate.
The movie is well paced, well acted, and engaging, but the premise is very confusing once you're done watching. I had to immediately scour the Internet for answers of what it all meant (SPOILER ALERT: I found this which explains it all well enough). While the whole journey is a little disorienting in the end, its in a way that intrigues you and makes you want to explore for answers rather than leaves you frustrated. At least it did for me. I can get why it may have been talked about a lot back in the day, since it is something you want to process after you finish.
I don't want to spoil anything or give too much away so I'll just say that I think this is a solid light sci-fi film with good acting, and an engaging storyline.
Check out Donnie Darko streaming right now on Netflix!