"DONNIE DARKO" (2001)

DONNIE DARKO

by

Richard Kelly

This is the shootingscript that was used by

the cast and crew duringthe shooting of the film.

Converted to PDF and contributedby RonCecchini@comcast.net

FADE IN:

We descend upon CarpathianRidge, a crescent-shaped cliff that extrudes fromthe dense Virginia evergreens abovea deep rock canyon.

The cliff marks theend of a dirt road that winds downfrom above.

Donnie Darko (sixteen)is asleep at the edge of the cliff. With his bike collapsednext to him, he is shivering,curled up on the foetal position.

He slowly opens hiseyes and looks around, disorientedby the morning light.He then stands up, looking down intothe expansive rock canyon. After a moment of hesitation,he takes his bike backup the hill.

Montage is choreographedto 'Never Tear Us Apart' by INXS.

Donnie pedals downinto the suburban village of Middlesex, Virginia ...passingby a large rock 'Middlesex' rock-pattern.

Donnie pedals pasttwo neighbourhood women who are speedwalking with handweights. They smile at him.

A Pontiac Trans-Amspeeds by.

Donnie turns the cornerand heads towards the garage.

We pan over to the Darko house...moving through the front yard where Eddie Darko (forty-four)pulls the cord andhis gas-powered leaf-blowerroars to life.

Elizabeth Darko (nineteen)comes out the front door. She approaches her dadfrom behind. Eddie turns and aims the leaf-blower at herface... blasting her with air.

Donnie parks his bikeand goes inside.

We pull back fromSamantha Darko (ten) as she is jumpingon a trampoline and panover to Rose Darko (forty-two) asshe sits at a table readinga paperback copy of Stephen King's "IT". She glancesover to the kitchen.

Donnie walks intothe kitchen. He then goes to the refrigerator.

Printed in magic markeron the refrigerator notepad isthe phrase:

WHERE IS DONNIE?

The opening themeof "Who's the Boss?" begins as we seeTony Danza's blue van andthe title card. We reveal Samantha, sitting on the floor,singing softly to the theme song"Brand New Life" performedby Larry Weiss.

We pan over to Donnie,sitting in the La-Z Boy.

The Darko family hasconvened for dinner. They eat silently for several moments.

An awkward silence.

They are all silentfor a moment.

Despite his braveefforts to hold back laughter, Eddie Darko lets out a slightguffaw.

Elizabeth talks onthe phone, getting ready for her Saturday night. Rose knocksand then enters.

Donnie lies on hisbed, reading "Collected Short Stories"by Graham Greene. Hisroom is an organised wreck.

Rose enters and beginsto pick things up of the floor.

Rose bitterly turnsto leave, but stops at the door.

Donnie leans overand turns off his lamp. Rose turns and leaves her son alonein the dark, closing the door behind her.

Rose stops in hertracks, hearing this. She then walksinto her bedroom and closesthe door.

Rose goes into bedwith Eddie, who is reading a hardback copy of Stephen King's"The Tommyknockers".

Donnie removes hispills from the medicine cabinet. Wesee insert that reads: L. THURMANM.D.

He looks at the bottlefor a moment, and then takes three pills and swallowsthem... staring at his reflection inthe mirror.

Eddie sits up in bed,unable to sleep.

The TV pops on. Eddiedrops into the La-Z Boy.

They are replayinga Bush/Dukakis debate. Eddie laughs.

We pull back and panover to a grandfather clock... asthe hand reaches midnight.

Title card:

OCTOBER 2 1988

VOICE (whisper) Wake... up... Donnie.

Donnie jerks uprightin his bed, awakened from a bad dream. He looks over at hisalarm clock: 12:50 a.m. His expression is distant... confused.

Donnie walks downstairs.

Donnie stares at Eddie,asleep in the La-Z Boy.

Donnie walks intothe kitchen, removes the magic markerfrom the refrigerator messageboard.

Donnie walks to thefront and exits the house.

Donnie walks downthe front walk to the street.

Donnie walks downthe street.

Donnie arrives nextto the pin and stares off into the distance.

VOICE Helluva night fora walk... huh, Donnie?

Donnie stares offinto the distance.

VOICE (CONT'D) Tonight is very special,Donnie.

VOICE I've been watchingyou. (beat) Do you believe inGod, Donnie?

Donnie doesn't answer.He holds his stomach, taking deep breaths.

VOICE (CONT'D) God loves his children,Donnie. God loves you.

There... standingon the seventh hole is a six-foot-tall figure dressed ina grotesque bunny suit.

Donnie stares at theBunny nervously as a wave of nausea overcomes him.

Donnie doesn't answer.

He looks up into theblack night.

Donnie looks backat Frank. His expression is a vacantexpanse of confusion.

Elizabeth comes throughthe front door, leans back against it, closes her eyes.

Eddie Darko sleepsreclined in the La-Z Boy. The finalnotes of the Channel 12National Anthem fade away to static.

From above... a thunderouscrash. Plaster rains from the ceiling ...Books flyoff the bookshelf as the entire wall- mount collapses tothe floor.

Eddie jerks awake.

Elizabeth falls backin horror as plaster rains down from around the chandelier...debris falling in the dining-room doorway.

Donnie is curled up,asleep on the green. A golf balllands on the green and rollswithin inches of his head.

A golf cart filledwith four older men arrives. Dr. Fisher (forty-five) getsout first.

Jim Cunningham (forty),the man riding shotgun, gets outof the cart and walksover.

Donnie gets up andbrushes himself off. On his arm hesees something writtenin black magic marker.

Numbers.... 28:06:42:12.

Donnie stares at thenumbers on his arm, confused.

Jim Cunningham staresat Donnie with a friendly grin.

Donnie walks downthe street towards his house.

A fire engine. Twopolice cars. A news van... All parkedin front of his house.

There are dozens ofneighbours in the street surroundinga barricade. Donniemoves through the crowd where a Police Officer is standing.

The Officer lets himthrough.

Near the cul-de-sacthere is a large caterpillar cranelifting something from insidethe house. There are firemen roaming around. Two PoliceOfficers are speaking with Eddie andRose.

Donnie looks overat the house.

A crane lifts a giganticjet engine over from the house towards a large flatbedtruck. Firemen kick pieces ofwood and shingle from theroof.

He turns and seeshis entire family standing there. Eddieis holding Samantha.

Two men in suits approachfrom a black sedan. A policeofficer directs them to Rose. One of the men removes a badgefrom his pocket and holdsit up for Rose to see.

Elizabeth looks overat Donnie with a grin.

Donnie looks overin awe as the mammoth engine is nowstrapped to the flatbed truck. A man in a silver firesuit spraysthe engine down with water.

Eddie is signing somedocuments in front of Garland ata table that has beenset up. Another FAA guy is there.

Eddie signs off, andGarland takes the documents.

Eddie picks Samanthaup into his arms. He stands withRose and Elizabeth... turningtowards Donnie... who seems lostin a trance.

P.M.)

Donnie lies in bed,watching television. Elizabeth isspread out on the other bed.Samantha sits on the edge of Elizabeth's bed, holding a stuffedunicorn named Ariel.

Rose and Eddie lieawake in the dark.

Rose begins to laugh.

Rose lies there silently.

Rose rolls over toembrace him.

Moments later, thedoor to the adjoining room opens. Itis Samantha.

Title card:

OCTOBER 3 1988

Rose drops Donnieand Samantha off at the corner.

She pulls of in theTaurus.

Already waiting atthe bus stop is Joanie James (eleven). Also Cherita Chen (fifteen).

Also there are Donnie'stwo best friends, Sean Smith (sixteen) and Ronald Fisher(fifteen)

Sean hands Donniea Marlboro Red and he takes it, looking over at Samantha andJoanie.

Sean, Ronald and Donnielight up. Ronald is the mostamateur- looking.

Cherita looks overat Donnie... her quiet devastationpoorly hidden.

The following montageis three long Steadicam shots inthe main school hallwayand courtyard.

We follow Donnie andhis friends as they pour out of the back of the emergencyexit of the school bus to 'HeadOver Heels' by Tears forFears.

We pick up teachersKaren Pomeroy (twenty-seven) and Dr. Kenneth Monnitoff(thirty) and Kitty Farmer (forty-two), with Jim Cunningham,as they make their way through the hallways.

Swarms of girls surroundDonnie as he makes his way tohis locker. There is ahuge smile on his face.

We reveal GretchenRoss (fifteen)... we see Principal Cole (thirty-eight) andthen Samantha's dance team (SparkleMotion) practising their routinein the courtyard.

We follow Ms. Pomeroyinto English class... then time-lapse dissolve through thedoorway...

Ms. Pomeroy has beenreading from "The Destructors" byGraham Greene.

Donnie sits in thefront.

Joanie James raisesher hand.

The class gives an"Awwww." Joanie blushes.

Gretchen Ross standsat the doorway to the classroom.

Ms. Pomeroy studiesher.

Ms. Pomeroy thinksfor a moment. There are several empty chairs.

The whole class beginsto freak out. The girls all getout of their seats...eating this up. Ronald fixes his hair.

Without hesitation,Gretchen scans the class for everyguy. As she gracefullytakes her seat next to Donnie, theymake eye contact. Donniegrins ear to ear.

The class freaks outlaughing.

Eddie drives Donniedown Old Gun Road, a windy back-road that goes towardsthe country.

Suddenly, Eddie slamson the brakes and the station wagon comes to a suddenstop.

Standing in the roaddirectly in front of the car is Roberta Sparrow (101 yearsold, a.k.a. Grandma Death).

Grandma Death livesin a modest brick house that sitsback in a huge grassy fieldthat overlooks the entire town.Her mailbox sits on theedge of Old Gun Road.

Donnie gets out ofthe car and takes Grandma Death's hand, walking her back towardsher mailbox. He opens it forher.

Grandma Death smilesback at him... and begins to walkslowly back to her house. She then turns and takes Donnie'shands into her frail grip.

Donnie stands theresilently for a moment, and then Grandma Death turns back towardsher house.

We see a large colonialrancher in the distance.

Dr. Lilian Thurman(fifty-eight) is a beautiful olderwoman.

He is quiet for amoment.

Dr. Thurman looksat him for a long beat, analysing whether or not he is tellingher the truth.

Concerned, Dr. Thurmanleans in closer.

He rubs his arm, wherethe numbers are still lightly drawn.

In the empty schoolhallway... a gigantic tidal wave forms in the distance andcomes crashing towards us betweenthe lockers.

Donnie lies on thecouch... fast asleep. His eyes slowly open.

There, standing inthe corner of the room in the shadowsis Frank.

In the dark schoolhallway, Donnie rounds the corner witha flashlight, a canof spray paint, and an axe. Frank stands in the same hallwaywhere the tidal wave crashed.

Donnie shines theflashlight through the basement. He approaches some oldpiping.

Donnie puts the axe backover his shoulder and then lowers it fiercely. The smashingof metal against metal echoes through the huge room.

Title card:

OCTOBER 4 1988

The same group standsand waits for the bus. The guyssmoke.

Cherita stands alone. Samantha is reading something to Joanie.

Donnie grabs the pieceof paper from his sister.

He pushes her away.

Everyone starts toget excited... looking down the roadto see if the bus iscoming.

Sean's watch hits7:55. No bus.

The three guys beginwalking.

The two girls followthem. Cherita stands at the corner.

Suddenly, Emily Bates(ten) and Susie Bates (eight) runup to the bus stop.

A horrible expressionappears on Donnie's face.

A janitor named Leroy(fifty-five) stands at the end ofthe hall with Principal Cole. Water rushes past their feetdown the steps.

They stand beforethe bronze Middlesex mongrel. Spray-painted on the concrete beforeit is the phrase: THEY MADE MEDO IT.

There are papers strewneverywhere. Embedded in the headof the mongrel is an axe.

Leroy can't help himself.He has to laugh.

Principal Cole walksoff.

Donnie, Sean, Ronald,Samantha and Joanie, Emily and Susie walk from their busstop.

Susie talks with Emily.Joanie and Samantha listen in.

Sean looks down toanother bus stop down the street.

A bunch of young kidsscream out... jumping up and down.

Donnie approachesanother corner alone. Ricky Danforth (seventeen) and SethDevlin (eighteen) stand with Gretchen.

Gretchen looks atthem with disgust.

Donnie walks intothe group.

They look at one another,surprised.

They quickly beginto walk off. Seth and Ricky look offat them, furious.

Gretchen smiles atDonnie, and then turns back and gives them the middle finger.

Donnie and Gretchenwalk along the sidewalk together.

Donnie is shocked.

Gretchen smiles. Shelooks over at her house.

She gives him a look.

She stares at himfor a moment.

She smiles.

She gets up and beginsto walk up the hill.

Title card:

OCTOBER 6 1988

Dr. Thurman sits nextto Donnie. His eyes are closed.

Donnie is now undoinghis belt. He is no longer paying attention.

Dr. Thurman quicklyclaps her hands. Donnie jolts awake... disoriented.

Donnie sits with hiseyes wide open, staring at something.

Donnie's face hasgone white.

We reveal on the blackboardthe phrase, "They made medo it", written overand over again.

We reveal two PoliceOfficers standing next to Principal Cole in the cornerof the classroom.

Donnie gets up andwalks over to the board and writesthe phrase.

He then sits downagain without hesitation.

The Police Officerhesitates for a moment, lingering over Donnie's penmanship.He then places a '?' next to Donnie's name on the roster.Ms. Pomeroy makes eye-contact withhim.

We pull back froma television: a cloud formation blowsacross the screen revealinga logo that reads: CUNNING VISIONS PRODUCTIONS.

A series of interviewsfollows.. infomercial style.

Donnie's health classis assembled in uniform rows infront of a television cart. Ms. Farmer paces in front of them.

Laughter from thestudents.

A montage of "family"imagery follows.

A middle-aged manwalks out onto a country patio. It isJim Cunningham... theguy from the golf course.

The title CONTROLLINGFEAR appears on the screen... followed by PART ONE: ATTITUDINALBELIEFS.

Donnie stares at thescreen... at Jim Cunningham.

The ruins of a brickchimney sit in the middle of a field. Donnie, Sean and Ronaldhave lined up several empty beer bottles, cans andstuffed animals on the hearth.

They take turns blastingthese targets with a BB gun.

Blam! A can fallsover. Ronald hands the gun to Donnie.Sean pulls out a bottleof Raspberry Night Train and takesa sip. He hands the bottleto Ronald.

He takes a big sip...which results in a dry heave.

Donnie aims the crosshairson Smurfette's head. He pullsthe trigger. Smurfettefalls over.

Blam! A bottle shatters.

Ronald takes anothersip of Night Train... followed byanother dry heave. Blam! Abottle breaks.

Donnie aims the gun...pulls the trigger. Blam! A bottle breaks.

Donnie takes the bottleof Night Train and takes a small sip.

Their conversationis interrupted by the squealing of tyres.

Down the hill, a Dodgeminivan is stopped on Old Gun Road.

Grandma Death is onceagain in the middle of the street.

Ms. farmer leans herhead out of the window.

Grandma Death doesn'thear her. She wanders around incircles.

Furious, Ms. Farmergets out of the car and walks overto the old woman, walkingher by the shoulders back to her driveway.

Ms. Farmer gets backbehind the wheel and they drive off.

Grandma Death lurksaround her mailbox.

Grandma Death approachesthe mailbox.

She opens it... thencloses it. Walks away.

She approaches thebox again...

Opens it... closesit. Walks away.

They continue to watchher, sipping liquor into the sunset, as Grandma Death repeatsthis act like an ancient wind-up doll.

Donnie lies on thecouch watching television... wherethere is a news story aboutthe flooded school. Several construction workers are packingup their things.

Looking nauseous,Donnie opens the medicine cabinet and retrieves his pills.He takes four of them. Donnie takesa drink of water, closinghis eyes. He puts the pills backand closes the cabinet.

In the mirror's reflectionis Frank. Donnie jumps.

Donnie reaches hishand out towards Frank and it presses against an invisiblewall, as if he were pressing hishand against liquid glass.

Donnie stares closelyat Frank. He then removes his hands and moves back awayfrom him.

A sign reads: EMERGENCYPTA MEETING TONIGHT.

Parents and teachersconvene in front of the auditorium entrance.

Kitty Farmer handsout Xeroxed images of something.

Eddie and Rose chit-chatwith other concerned parents.

Ms. Pomeroy approachesKitty Farmer.

The crowd settles...Principal Cole takes the stage.

Kitty Farmer standsup in her seat near the front row.

The crowd stirs.

She stands up.

Ms. Pomeroy shakesher head bitterly.

Applause from thecrowd.

Several shouts ofapproval come from the crowd.

Donnie continues toconverse with Frank.

A moment of silence.

Donnie turns to seeSamantha is standing in the doorway. Frank is gone.

A heated debate amongthe parents is under way. Frustrated, Rose stands up. KarenPomeroy is furious.

Ms. Pomeroy is disgusted.Rose and Eddie burst out laughing, grab their coats,and leave.

Donnie and Gretchenplay a Sega race-car driving game.Donnie drives a souped-up red Ferrarithrough the Grand Canyon.

The Trans-Am crasheshead on into a tree. Game Over.

They sit silentlyfor a moment.

Title card:

OCTOBER 13 1988

Donnie stands in frontof the class. Ms. Pomeroy sitsbehind her desk. On the chalkboardis "Poetry Day".

Donnie returns tohis seat. Ms. Pomeroy stares at him intensely.

The class begins tolaugh. Donnie looks over at Gretchen.

Ms. Farmer standsnext to the television where Jim Cunningham narrates the Lifelinetutorial.

"PLEASE PRESS STOPNOW" appears on the screen.

Ms. Farmer stops thetape and moves to the blackboard.On it, she has drawna horizontal line book-ended by thewords "Love" and "Fear".

She stares them downfor a moment... shaking her head.

The students readtheir cards.

Cherita Chen standsup and walks over to the blackboard. Ms. Farmer pulls uplarge white cards that have black-and- white animated cartoonson them.

Cherita places an X nearthe "Fear" end of the lifeline.

Donnie watches asseveral more students interpret their respective human dilemmas.

Finally... it is histurn.

Donnie looks at theblackboard.

Ms. Farmer staresat Donnie vehemently. She can't believe what she's hearing.

Donnie thinks fora moment... and then raises his hand.

Donnie and his parentssit in front of Principal Cole.

Donnie does not answer.We reveal Ms. Farmer standingin the corner.

Silence. Rose looksdown, furious. Eddie lets out a snort laugh which he triesto conceal with a cough. It doesn't work.

Eddie and Donnie exitCole's office, moving on while Rose approaches Kitty,who looks visibly shaken.

Kitty Farmer turnsand walks away.

Samantha jumps upand down on the trampoline.

Donnie walks intohis room again for the first time since the accident, lookingaround at the new furniture, paintand carpet. Everythingis perfect.

Elizabeth appearsin the doorway behind him with a cordless phone in her hand.

Eddie and Rose sitacross from one another at the bistro patio... having aquiet dinner to themselves.

Eddie considers this.

Donnie lies in bed...looking up at the ceiling. He then rolls over and looksat the calendar on his wall. Thedays of the month of Octoberare marked off with an X in each square. Tacked ontothe calendar is a drawing of Frank.

As everyone is leavingclass, Donnie stays behind.

Dr. Monnitoff pauses,turns and looks at Donnie. He seems to know something.

Dr. Monnitoff hasdrawn a diagram on the blackboard. Inhis hand he holds a copyof Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time".

Cherita Chen listensto this conversation intently.

Donnie stares at himintently. Dr. Monnitoff walks overto his desk and picksup a book.

Donnie takes the batteredbook... we see the cover.

Donnie stands beforean array of old photographs. We zoomin to a black-and-whitephotograph of a young Robert Sparrow standing in a classphotograph dated 1944.

Donnie looks downat the book, and then at the photograph.

Donnie sits down fordinner with his family.

No one seems to know.

The family is takenaback.

Slow motion. Donnieand Gretchen jump up and down onthe trampoline, lost amongfalling autumn leaves.

Donnie is back onDr. Thurman's couch.

He looks at her fora moment.

Donnie takes thisin for a moment.

Eddie and Dr. Fisherwatch the Redskins game. Ronald and Donnie watch the gamein the family room.

Rose and Anne Fisher(forty-five) share a bottle of wineat the kitchen table.

Samantha bounces throughthe kitchen and into the family room, wearing a Dorothyoutfit from "The Wizard of Oz".

Donnie sits back inthe La-Z Boy, dozing off...

John Madden's CBSchalkboard unfolds on the TV screen.Madden traces his electroniclines across the screen, tracingthe movement of the players...as their images are frozenin time.

Donnie's eyes close...and then re-open.

Donnie turns his headand sees that the room is momentarily bathed in artificialwhite light, as if God hit the slow- motion button duringa flash of lightning.

Donnie turns his headand sees that protruding from his father's stomach...is a thick spear made of silvery plastic gel.

As Eddie gets up fromthe couch to walk over to the refrigerator ...hisspear precedes him... morphing intoan extruded arrow thatreaches the refrigerator several seconds before him.

The spear traces theexact geography of his movement through time... using his centreof gravity as its axis point.

Donnie turns and seesSamantha skipping from the kitchen... as her spear bouncesseveral feet in front of her likea caterpillar.

Her spear... smallerthan her father's... is proportionalto her mass.

Donnie looks downat his stomach and sees his own spear protruding outward. It then begins to extrude forwardtowards the foyer.

He does not followit. It then retreats back in and beckons him to follow.

Like a child transfixedby a firefly... Donnie followsthe path of his spearinto the foyer.

Donnie and his spearround the corner and arrive in his parents' bedroom.

His spear leads himto the closet. He opens the closetdoor... and the spear leadshim down to a box hidden beneath his father's shoe rack.

Donnie removes thebox from the closet and unlatches it. Inside is a gun. Donnieremoves the pistol from the box... staring at it withthe same childlike expression.

Suddenly... Donnie'suniverse snaps back to normal. Thewhite light strobes... thespear has vanished.

Donnie still holdsthe gun. His expression changes tonervous shock.

His eyes linger overthe gun for a moment, he then quickly puts it back in thebox... and carefully places the boxback under the shoe rack.

Title card:

OCTOBER 18 1988

The usual bus stopcrew is there. Donnie arrives last...by himself. He lookstired and preoccupied.

A plane flies overhead...they all look up at the sky.

We see the studentsplacing the Graham Greene books onMs. Pomeroy's desk.

Donnie slips his bookinto his backpack.

She begins to handout copies of the paperback novel.Beth Farmer smiles whenshe sees the cover.

Donnie walks alongthe edge of the school. Suddenly, afigure approaches, grabbinghim from behind, placing a switchblade next to his throat.It is Seth Devlin.

Seth takes the knifeand pokes the tip softly into theflesh of Donnie's neck,drawing a small amount of blood.

He pushes Donnie away.Donnie touches his neck in shock.

Donnie walks intothe classroom and takes his seat nextto Gretchen. He is sweatingprofusely.

Dr. Monnitoff is handingout papers. The bell rings People shuffle out.

Donnie rubs his fingerover his neck wound.

Donnie and Gretchenwalk around the trail.

They pull over toa stop.

She thinks for a moment.

Donnie stops and takesGretchen's hand.

Donnie goes in foran awkward kiss... but Gretchen turnsand denies him.

Donnie turns away,embarrassed.

A man in a red joggingsuit is standing there in the forest smoking a cigarette. He turns away... disappearing intothe woods.

Donnie rides alongthe sidewalk... and skids to a stop,seeing a wallet lying there.

Donnie opens the wallet,looking at the ID. It reads:

Donnie looks overand sees that he is in front of Cunningham's Tudor mansion.

Donnie sits at thekitchen island with Elizabeth, carvinga pumpkin.

Donnie turns the carvedjack o' lantern around and wesee that it looks remarkablylike Frank.

Rose and Eddie sitin front of Dr. Thurman.

Rose smiles nervously.

Rose looks over atEddie with an expression of panic.

Eddie looks at Rose...who nods in approval.

Donnie walks intothe kitchen and removes a butcher'sknife from a drawer.

Donnie stands in frontof the bathroom mirror... catatonic... looking at his reflection.

Frank stands behindhim.

Suddenly, Donnie turnsaround with the butcher's knifeand lunges at Frank withall of his weight.

The knife collideswith Frank's invisible force fieldas if it were liquid steel.Donnie lunges repeatedly at Frankwith psychotic rage...but the knife bounces off.

Title card:

OCTOBER 20 1988

The auditorium ispacked with Middlesex mongrels. Jim Cunningham takes thestage.

A large screen lowersbehind him.

On the giant screen,an image slide appears of a youngcartoon teenager whose eyesare whacked out on drugs. The title appears: HIS NAMEWAS FRANK.

Upon hearing the nameFrank, Donnie falls into a paranoid trance.

Gretchen, who looksextremely bored, leans over to Donnie.

Donnie ignores her. His eyes are locked on Jim Cunningham, who begins his rousingre-enactment of the sad, unfortunate downfall of Frank.

Within minutes, JimCunningham has the crowd laughing... enamoured of him withhis cartoon slide show.

Note: during thissequence, the camera speed ramps to4 bps.

Donnie is in a trance.

The huge screen risesupwards and Jim Cunningham takes questions from thecrowd from portable mike stands inthe back of the auditorium.

Several students getup and go to the mikes.

Kitty Farmer runsout onto the stage and hands Jim Cunningham a bottle of waterand a towel. She gives him the thumbs-up sign, and runs backoffstage.

Donnie gets up fromhis seat and goes to the mike.

Donnie steps up tothe mike stand.

There are rumblingsfrom the faculty. Some laughter fromthe student body.

More rumblings fromthe faculty... Laughter from the students gets louder.

The crowd is stirring.Students break out into applause. Principal Cole approachesDonnie and removes him fromthe auditorium.

Gretchen watches himgo with a smile.

Donnie and Gretchenwalk down the wooded road.

Donnie takes out thebook by Roberta Sparrow.

Donnie and Gretchenstand at the end of Grandma Death's driveway.

Gretchen leads Donnieup to the front porch of the decrepit house. She then ringsthe doorbell. They wait for several moments ...nothinghappens.

Gretchen then goesand peers through a window.

They walk to the endof the driveway, and Donnie stopsat the mailbox. He opensit... empty.

In an upstairs windowof the house, the silhouette ofGrandma Death peers down atthem ominously.

Donnie sits at hisdesk, sealing an envelope. The address reads:

Title card:

OCTOBER 23 1988

Dr. Thurman looksat a diagram from Sparrow's boo. Donnie is pacing around heroffice.

Donnie is silent fora moment.

Donnie makes a "zipperlip" gesture.

Donnie just staresat her.

Donnie looks at her...and we know the answer.

The entire familyis having dinner. Donnie is lost ina trance.

Donnie ignores her.

Rose appears surprisedand then sad at this comment. She looks at Eddie, whojust looks down at his plate of food.

Donnie and Gretchenare at the front of the room, presenting their invention. Dr.Monnitoff presides.

Seth Davis raiseshis hand.

Dr. Monnitoff looksover at Seth calmly.

Seth begins to walkout. Gretchen doesn't answer. Thereis only the 80 IQ grin...staring back at her face. The roomis silent.

Gretchen walks outthe front door. Donnie comes chasingafter her.

She turns and faceshim, tears in her eyes.

They embrace... kissingfor the first time.

The old-fashionedtheater marquee reads:

Donnie and Gretchenapproach the box office.

Donnie and Gretchensit in the middle of the huge, empty theater.

"The Evil Dead" unfolds.They eat popcorn and watch silently. Donnie looks overand sees that Gretchen is asleep.

Donnie turns backto the movie... beginning to look ill.

Donnie turns his headover and looks across Gretchen.Frank is sitting next toher.

After a moment, Frankslowly reaches up and removes therabbit headpiece.

Donnie's eyes widen.

Underneath the headpieceis the human face of a handsome young man. His lefteye does not exist, because it has imploded into thesocket. There is blood oozing from the wound.

Donnie just staresat him.

Donnie looks at thescreen.

On the screen, "TheEvil Dead" morphs into a Time Portal.

Suddenly... the screenmorphs into an image of a largeTudor house.

Donnie pulls out JimCunningham's wallet from his pocket.

Donnie contemplateshis fate for several more moments,and then gets up and walksout.

Donnie walks slowlypast the theatre marquee.

On the stage, amongblowing autumn leaves, Cherita Chen performs a strangelybeautiful mime act to Symphony No.3 by Henryk Gorecki.

When her act is finallyover, the crowd is indifferent,with scattered applauseand laughter. Ms. Pomeroy stands upand applauds enthusiastically.

Clearly affected bythe laughter, Cherita walks offstage.

In the front row,the entire Darko family has assembled.

Kitty Farmer standswith the five-member dance team ina huddle.

Jim Cunningham walkspast them towards the stage. He stops and touches Samanthaon the shoulder... smiling.

She smiles nervouslyback at him. He exits onto the stage.

The audience roarswith applause as the lights dim.

The following montagealternates between the auditoriumstage and Jim Cunningham'shouse.

The stage lights slowlyraise as the opening beat of 'West End Girls' by thePet Shop Boys begins.

Under the soft stagelights... Sparkle Motion unfolds.

Donnie approachesJim Cunningham's house.

Sparkle Motion...in perfect synchronicity.

In the living roomof the house... Donnie walks through, dousing gasoline allover the place with psychotic force. A trail of fire spreads.

A mystery woman emergesfrom the back wall of the auditorium.

A couch and curtainsbecome engulfed in flames.

Middlesex girls arejumping up and down in the aisles.

Eddie and Rose aresmiling ear to ear.

Elizabeth Darko iscracking up at the entire scene.

Kids are going bonkersin the aisles.

The mystery womantakes off her glasses.

Slow motion: fireengulfs a deer taxidermy.

Ms. Pomeroy gets intothe groove.

The parents are nowon their feet.

The crowd roars evenlouder.

Slow motion: SparkleMotion stands triumphant.

Slow motion: Donniestands before a wall of flames.

Cherita sits alonein the courtyard at the base of themongrel statue... defeatedand alone.

Donnie walks intothe theatre and sits next to Gretchen,who is asleep. As thecredits to the film roll, Donnie wakes her.

Firemen walk throughthe charred room shining flashlight.

A Fireman shines hisflashlight onto a mysterious doorwith smoke emerging fromit.

He kicks the doorin... and shines the flashlight intothe dark hole.

Donnie and Gretchenlie awake on a pile of blankets...staring out into the abyssalcanyon.

Helicopter shot: weswoop down over Carpathian Ridge...past Donnie and Gretchen...over the canyon and the endlessexpanse of evergreen forest.

Title card:

OCTOBER 22 1988

Donnie and Eddie arein the backyard raking leaves ontoa giant sheet.

They rake in silencefor a moment.

Eddie stops raking.

Donnie smiles at hisfather.

Donnie sits on hisbed and stares at the calendar on his wall. Each day ismarked with an X.

He takes his pillsfrom his nightstand... and downs three.

There are noises comingfrom downstairs.

Donnie comes downstairsto see Elizabeth glued to theTV.

On the television:a Newscaster stands in front of thecharred heap of what was oncea large suburban house. Firefighters mill about behindher.

Policemen emerge fromthe basement with several largeboxes of evidence.

Donnie stares at thetelevision... speechless, horrified.On the TV, Jim Cunninghamhides his face from the camera.

Donnie says nothing,turns around... and walks upstairs.

Donnie and Dr. Monnitoffare having another in-depth conversation.

Ms. Pomeroy sits acrossfrom Dr. Monnitoff. They bothgrade papers silently.

Dr. Monnitoff staresat her for a long moment.

She stares at himfor a while, haunted by something.

Ms. Pomeroy sits acrossfrom Principal Cole.

Principal Cole staresat her for a moment.

Ms. Pomeroy stepsout from Principal Cole's office. Shesees Kitty Farmer and theSparkle Motion girls milling about.The mystery woman is thereas well.

Ms. Pomeroy glaresat Kitty Farmer before leaving.

Ms. Pomeroy stepsoutside through an emergency exit. She stares out at thebeautiful forest. Her eyes are filledwith tears.

Hearing the screamfrom the distance, we see Cherita Chen turn her head in shockas she walks alone along the edgeof the school building,eating her lunch.

She and Ms. Pomeroyshare a moment of eye contact beforeshe turns and heads backinto the school.

Ms. Pomeroy walksslowly through the hallway, wiping tears from her face.

The Sparkle Motiongirls squeal with excitement... jumping up and down. KittyFarmer pumps her fist in victory.

Suddenly... LindaConnie bursts into the office, grabbing Kitty by the arm.The teacher holds up a newspaper...where there is a headlinethat reads: JIM CUNNINGHAM CHARGED.

Kitty's facial expressiongoes from elation to horror.

The classroom is dark.The students watch "Watership Down", the movie.

Donnie is asleep.Gretchen stares at him. Ms. Pomeroystares at Gretchen.

Suddenly, she turnson the lights, turning off the TV.

Donnie wakes up...with dark circles under his eyes.

He looks over at Gretchen,who looks angry at this.

The class is silentfor a moment.

Gretchen looks acrossthe room at Donnie with a disdainful expression.

Donnie approachesGretchen at her locker.

She turns and walksoff, leaving Donnie broken and dejected.

Donnie sits at hisdesk looking at an intricate drawingof a cloud formation. Onit he has written: THE PORTAL.

Rose and Eddie arein the kitchen. He is getting readyfor a business trip.

Samantha is jumpingup and down. Elizabeth is jumpingup and down, dancing withher.

Donnie looks intothe kitchen from the foyer, catchinghis family in a serene,contented moment of happiness. A moment that he chooses notto interrupt.

Title card:

OCTOBER 25 1988

Doorbell rings. Roseanswers the door.

Kitty Farmer is thereon the front porch. She is wearinga T- shirt that reads:GOD IS AWESOME!

Rose is standing inDonnie's room alone. She stares ata drawing of Frank thathe has tacked onto his bulletinboard.

Donnie appears inthe doorway. Rose jumps.

Donnie walks overand sits on his bed. Rose goes and sits next to him.

Rose brings her luggageout to the airport van. MysteryWoman loads Beth Farmerinto the van.

Donnie sits on theback-porch steps, watching everyone silently. Elizabethgives Samantha a hug.

Donnie waves goodbye.

Rose turns... wantingto say goodbye to Donnie, but not knowing how. She smilesand waves goodbye.

Donnie waves back.

Rose turns and goesto the van... handing the driver her last bag.

Donnie stands up andreluctantly approaches from the porch.

Rose stands therefor a moment, looking at her only son.

She gets into thevan, as Donnie and Elizabeth watch them drive off.

Donnie walks up toGretchen, who stands at her lockerwith several other girls.The girls whisper to each other ashe approaches.

Gretchen walks away,looking back at him with apologetic eyes.

Donnie walks alonethrough the hallways... lost.

He stumbles upon Ms.Pomeroy's room. She sits behind her desk... which hasbeen packed up into a cardboard box.

Donnie looks at theblackboard. On it she has writtenin perfect penmanship:"Cellar Door".

She is silent fora moment.

She takes the boxand crosses the room towards Donnie.

And with that... Ms.Pomeroy turns and walks down thehallway with her career ina cardboard box... heading towardsthe bright Friday afternoonsunlight.

Donnie walks backdown the hallway... lost in his own introspection.

Across the way...at her locker... as Cherita Chen. Donnie approaches her slowlylike a cat.

She turns from herlocker... and they make eye contact.

She looks at him warily,frightened. A book falls fromher arms onto the floor.

Written in large letterson the brown book cover is hisname.

DONNIE DARKO.

He comes face to facewith her, grabs her earmuffs withboth hands, and toucheshis forehead to hers as if he weregoing to kiss her.

Cherita holds stillfor a moment, trembling, and thenjerks back from him. Herearmuffs come off in his hands.

She backs away fromhim slowly. A single tear rolls downher cheek.

She then turns andruns down the hall... disappearingfrom sight.

Donnie walks by himself...thinking... wearing Cherita's earmuffs.

Title card:

OCTOBER 29 1988

Donnie is under hypnosis.

Donnie doesn't answer.

He does not respond.

No answer.

Donnie gets up onhis feet, staggering around the room.He looks frightened...childlike.

Dr. Thurman gets upand tries to control Donnie... following him around the room.

Dr. Thurman grabshim, trying to get him under controlin an awkward embrace.

Donnie stares acrossthe office like a frightened child... as the room becomeswhite with artificial light.

Frank is there inthe office... staring back at him.

She claps her handstogether twice... and Donnie snapsout of his trance.

Donnie, calmed downand putting his jacket on, walks slowly to the doorway.

Dr. Thurman standslooking out the window.

Donnie turns backand faces her. Beat.

Donnie walks intothe kitchen, where Elizabeth is sittingat the table.

Donnie sits down acrossfrom her.

Neighbourhood kidsare trick-or-treating. The man in thered jogging suit shinesa flashlight towards the house.

There are at leasttwo dozen cars parked in front... and somebody is alreadythrowing toilet paper in the trees.

The doorbell rings. Donnie answers the door... only tofind Sean and Ronald dressedin black with monster masks. They are both carryingbackpacks.

Donnie is dressedin a black skeleton suit, and his faceis painted white likea skull.

They go back intothe house towards the kitchen. Thereare at least forty people,already quite wasted, many carrying their own twelve-packsof beer under their arms.

Almost everyone iswearing a costume. Donnie and his friends weave through thecrowd toward the patio.

Donnie and his friendswatching the party unfold.

The party grows larger.

Dr. Thurman pacesaround her office with the phone toher ear.

The phone is ringing.The answering machine picks up.

The doorbell rings...and once again Donnie is the oneto answer it. To hissurprise... it is Gretchen standingon his front porch.

The house is all messedup.

She nods yes.

Donnie takes Gretcheninto the hallway and gives her ahug.

Donnie takes Gretchenupstairs. We reveal Elizabeth watching them go.

Elizabeth walks overto a friend.

Donnie and Gretchensit on the bed. Gretchen takes a sipof beer.

He kisses her. Hethen pulls back.

They lie down together...silently listening to the party below.

The phone is ringing.The answering machine picks up.

Rose stands at a payphonewhile the Sparkle Motion girls wait at the terminal.

We move towards thegrandfather clock and see the minute hand reach midnight.

Donnie and Gretchenwalk downstairs. They kiss, and shegoes towards the familyroom.

Donnie walks towardsthe kitchen, but then doubles over against the wall inpain.

Suddenly... the roomblows out with a strobe of whitelight... as costumed teenagersand their vector spears intersectin a shimmering maze ofchaos.

Donnie slowly followshis spear as it leads him throughthe crowd... directlytowards the refrigerator.

Donnie stares blanklyat what he sees... scrawled in magic marker on the memoboard.

It reads: FRANK WASHERE... WENT TO GET BEER!!

Donnie stares at theboard for several moment... he then turns his head andsees a teenager with a Ronald Reaganmask walk by.

He then sees anotherspear come towards him. Gretchenrounds the corner, comingin from the family room.

Donnie falls to hisknees and puts his face inside theend of Gretchen's spear.We see his P.O.V. - an abyssal tunnel of light.

He grabs her and pullsher out the back of the kitcheninto the back yard. Ronaldand Sean follow.

They move throughthe backyard.

She stops him.

Ronald and Sean approach.

Donnie looks at Gretchen...This is it.

The group of hourride their bikes down the street.

They ride their bikesthrough the forest.

They stand in frontof the dark house. It is pitch-black.No lights anywhere.

Then... there is aclanking noise from somewhere aroundthe side of the house.Everyone hears it.

Donnie looks towardsthe lower front of the house wherethere is a cellar door.

The cellar door isajar... and there is a dim light coming out from inside.

Donnie and Gretchenopen the door to the cellar... anddescend down into a murkypit with a stone floor.

Inside... the roomis quite large... filled with row after row of boxes, paintings,antique furniture and chandeliers. There is even an ancientpiano in the back.

Gretchen slowly reachesher hand out and places her finger on the deepest pianokey.

Suddenly a figureemerges from the shadows and slams Donnie into the wall. Hethen grabs Gretchen by placing an arm around her neck witha butcher's knife.

It is Ricky Danforth. Seth comes out from another corner... also brandishing abutcher's knife. Both have pantyhosepulled over their heads.

Ricky drags Gretchenout. Seth drags Donnie out.

The four of them comebursting out of the cellar.

Seth holds Donnie'sarms down with his knees and placesthe butcher's knife againsthis throat.

Ricky throws Gretchendown hard onto the shoulder of OldGun Road. She lets outa gasp of pain as her head hits the gravel.

Sean and Ronald watch...dumbfounded, backing away.

Seth just stares downat Donnie with his dead eyes...pushing the knife down harder,cutting off Donnie's air supply.

Seth slowly turnshis head and sees... far down Old Gun Road... approachingheadlights.

The headlights aregetting close.

Gretchen strugglesto breathe on the shoulder of the road... the wind knocked outof her, semi-conscious.

The headlights aregetting close.

Even closer...

Seth doesn't move...He just stares down at Donnie.

Seth gets up and runsoff with Ricky into the forest...just as the approachingcar crests the top of Old Gun Roadat breakneck speed.

Suddenly, in the brightglow of the car's headlights...is the silhouette ofGrandma Death... standing in the middleof the road. In herright hand she is clutching a letter.

Donnie's letter.

The car swerves left,barely missing Grandma Death.

The Pontiac triesto brake hard... but the wheels lock... and it goes skiddingonto the shoulder.

Gretchen raises herhead from the gravel... into bright headlight beams.

The Trans-Am goes barrellingover her like a speed-bump... and her limp bodyrolls off into the grassy ditch.

The Trans-Am skidsoff into the grass and collides head-on with the crumblingstone chimney... which explodes intothe crumpled hood of thecar... as it eventually comes toa stop in a fury of smoke.

Donnie staggers tohis feet... regaining his breath. Heruns over to Gretchen andkneels down next to her.

Her neck is broken.She has no pulse.

The passenger doorto the Trans-Am opens, and a passengerin a clown costume getsout.

The driver's sidedoor opens and the driver gets out.

He is wearing a rabbitsuit. A Halloween costume.

He is holding thegrotesque rabbit helmet in his hand.

It is Frank.

Frank approaches Donnie...who raises his head from Gretchen to see him for thefirst time... face to face... withan expression of shockedhorror.

Frank is in shock.

Donnie slowly nodshis head. Sean and Ronald approachhim slowly. Grandma Deathlooms behind them.

Donnie raises thegun from his father's closet with hisright hand, and to his ownsurprise, he pulls the trigger.

Frank's left eye implodesas the bullet passes throughhis head. His body fallslimply to the ground.

The Passenger turnsand runs off into the woods.

After contemplationof the recent events... Sean and Ronald turn and run off inthe opposite direction.

Donnie is left alone...with the dead bodies.

He turns and staresat Grandma Death... who is calmlystanding there... with hisletter in her hand.

Donnie is still inshock.

Donnie carries Gretchenhome.

Donnie looks downat Elizabeth asleep on the couch. Hethen leans down and givesher a kiss on the forehead.

Donnie walks out tothe Taurus, then stops and looks upat the sky.

The Time Portal beginsto form above the house.

Donnie touches hisstomach... feeling sick once again.

Donnie then stepsinto the car, where Gretchen sits inthe passenger seat. Heturns on the engine and peels out ofthe driveway.

Donnie drives the Taurusup Carpathian Ridge.

Donnie sits on theroof of the Taurus looking out.

He smiles, lightinga cigarette.

We see the Time Portalin the distance, forming.

Samantha Darko isfast asleep. Her head rests on Rose's shoulder. She looksout of the window at the rising sun.

The Portal continuesto form above the Darko house.

Police cars pull upin front of the house.

Donnie continues tostare out at the canyon.

We see the Time Portalonce again.

Donnie steps off thehood and gets into the car.

He takes Gretchen'shand.

On the plane, Roselooks out of the window as the jetwing explodes (audio only...we don't see it). She screamsout as the cabin shakes violently.

The Time Portal continuesto form over the house.

The left jet enginefrom Flight 2806 falls downward through the sky. Beneathit, the Portal forms itself.

The falling jet engineapproaches the hexagonal plateof light which acceleratesdownwards... forming a tunnelwith walls made of swirlingliquid marble.

The jet engine passesinto the hexagonal plate.

In a series of inter-velometertime-lapse shots... theentire suburban landscaperetreats backward in a fury of speed.

Shot 1: a time-lapseof the mongrel statue.

Shot 2: a time-lapseof the main school hallway.

Shot 3: a time-lapseof the main school building.

Shot 4: a time-lapseof neighbourhood street/Darko house.

We Steadicam up thestairs.

We move towards Donnie'sempty bed.

Title card:

OCTOBER 2 1988

Dr. Thurman wakesup.

Jim Cunningham wakesup... sobbing.

Kitty Farmer wakesup... coming to a horrible realisation.

Karen Pomeroy andDr. Monnitoff wake up together.

Cherita Chen wakesup.

The jet engine fallssilently through the night down towards the Darko house...having travelled back in time.

Donnie wakes up. Heis laughing hysterically.

The engine crashesthrough his ceiling... engulfing theroom.

Eddie jumps up fromthe La-Z Boy... startled awake bythe impact.

Rose sits up in bed,hearing the crash.

Elizabeth leans againstthe wall, screaming.

The mammoth jet enginehas plummeted all the way downthrough the house, creatinga cavernous hole that splits Donnie's room in half. Thesmoke from the wreckage begins to clear.

Above the engine isDonnie... impaled through the stomachby a wooden beam thatwas once part of the floor beneathhis bed. There is bloodgushing from his mouth, as his faceis contorted into anexpression that could almost be a smile.

The same disasterscene as before... only more media,more neighbours, and aCoroner. People stand around in shock... disbelief.

From the other endof the street, a girl comes ridingalong on a bike... slowlytaking in the entire scene. She pulls up to the kerb wherea kid named David (eleven) is standing around.

It is Gretchen Ross.

She stares at thehouse, where paramedics wheel a bodyout of the front door.

They stare at thefront yard for a while. We see Elizabeth. We see Eddie, carryingSamantha... who is crying.

She stares at thefamily for several moments... and then shakes her head slowlyas if trying to locate a memorythat is slipping away.

Rose, leaning againsta tree while smoking a cigarette, notices them. Sheseems to recognise Gretchen... from somewhere in the vastreservoir of her memory.

She waves at her.

She waves back.