Donnie Darko
Fifteen years before Stranger Things combined science-fiction, Spielbergian touches, and ’80s nostalgia to much acclaim, Richard Kelly set the template — and the high-water mark — with his debut feature, arguably the first cult classic of the new millennium.
When young Donnie escapes death (by a fallen plane engine in his bedroom), a sequence of events unfolds that weave together people, events, time and space on a finite loop, all leading up to the inevitable conclusion that rectifies the world.
Portals, teenage angst, God, and hallucinations that include a giant bunny rabbit named Frank play out spectacularly in this new midnight movie cult classic. Basically, Donnie Darko takes the typical teen struggle genre to a whole new existential level complete with an evocative soundtrack of ’80s classics to become a truly haunting and mind-bending cinematic experience.