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There are films that hit you hard in the stomach. Films that eat away at you with anger. Films that make you laugh. Films that leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Films that make you despise society. Films of silent protest. Films that make you let out a sarcastic smile at their conclusion... but films that make you experience the combinations of emotions just listed are very few. I would dare say unique.
Rising well above the stereotypical Hollywood standards, this film offers us one of the most intriguing and disturbing adolescent experiences that cinema has ever proposed. You will let in the story of Donnie, a teenage boy with mental disorders (or maybe not?), who will strike you for his critical and ruthless condemnation of society, whether it be school, family, or religion, and you will never let it go. Struck by tormented dreams and disturbing visions, as well as unconscious sleepwalking, one evening Donnie leaves his bedroom. In the grip of visions, he observes in the dim light a giant rabbit revealing to him the "expiry date" of the world. Immediately a noise pierces the silence and makes our protagonist come to his senses, who promptly runs into the house to verify what has happened. An airplane's reactor had crashed into the middle of his bedroom. Talk about luck...
From this point on, I do not wish to reveal anything more to avoid spoiling surprises or disturbing with words and adjectives what is one of the most beautiful tragic comedies of the last 10 years at the very least. Amidst falsely sunny atmospheres infected by dark influences and journeys inside a disturbed psyche, as well as space-time theories, we will rediscover the journey that will lead the boy to a shocking truth... The circle will finally close!
Everything is superb in this film that resembles a sort of adolescent "Alice in Wonderland" with dark twists and psychologically disturbed and altered by a limited conception of the world by the supporting characters. I say supporting, even though the cast includes top-tier actors like Drew Barrymore (perhaps in her finest big-screen performance) and Patrick Swayze, because the scene is stolen by protagonist Jake Gyllenhaal in a breathtaking performance. Even the "secondary" actors seem inspired and well-suited to their assigned roles. Everything, including the beautiful soundtrack (Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, to name a few), serves as a backdrop and, at the same time, leaves its important mark on the final result.
In short, a film I strongly recommend everyone to watch. Those who approach it superficially might find it inconclusive, but that would mean they do not know what good films are. Or rather. The masterpieces.
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