Donnie Darko Opening Scene Analysis

“Donnie Darko,” directed by Richard Kelly, starts and ends in the same place: Donnie Darko’s bedroom. Before any other sound is played in the movie, a deep voice is heard saying “wake up,” followed by an eerie and discordant mixture of noises. Already Kelly has set the tone of the movie to be dark, mysterious, and suspenseful. From the beginning of the movie, I was captivated by how a few sounds can create such an ambiance surrounding Donnie’s unusual actions. As Donnie seems to be sleep-walking out of his room, his breath is emphasized to show the irregularity of the situation and his drowsy state of mind, developing the intensity for the scenes to come. I became fascinated with this movie because of Kelly’s detailed incorporation of visuals and sounds to portray the intriguing time travel concepts in a tense tone.
The distorted sounds become louder as Donnie inches closer to the bunny, causing the moment to feel as if darkness is caving in around me with the increasing tension. At that point, I became immersed as a part of the world that Kelly created. As the scene continues, the continuous ticking-like noises in the background draws me deeper into the uneasy environment that is already getting gradually more familiar. The ambiguity and contrast between the two characters establishes the latent mysterious tone for the rest of the movie, which is what Kelly does best. Thus, the aesthetics in this scene alone caught my attention before I can even focus on the confusion behind the encounter with a devilish