Donnie Darko is one of those cult classic films that is chocked full of themes.
The film’s release in 2001 saw the movie grow a huge following, as well as tackle issues of the world ending and mental illness, but now one fan is offering an insight to explain everything between Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) and that bunny, Frank.
After recently watching the film again, one Reddit user EnigmaEcstacy suggests there’s a much more upfront theme to the classic film – drunk driving.
Rather than focus on a parallel universe, EnigmaEcstacy points out that the film opens with Donnie driving by a sign advertising the town’s Halloween carnival – which is sponsored by M.A.D.D. — Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
She then points out that if you consider the ending of the film, the giant bunny Frank, kills Donnie’s girlfriend, Gretchen, in what we can assume is a drunk driving accident.
EnigmaEcstacy adds:
“At the climax of the film Frank, who we can assume was drinking and driving (though never explicitly expressed), runs over Gretchen as he is driving recklessly and loses control when avoiding Grandma Death [the writer Roberta Sparrow].
“Look back at the sign and the events combined, it was Hallows Eve, it was Halloween carnival, it involved drunk driving, and it involved the death of the teenager whose only family was her mother.”
So while it might not explain the whole film, EnigmaEcstacy has some pretty strong points for how “at its core about the consequences of drunk driving.”
