10 Amazing Films That Get Better The More You Think About Them

Donnie Darko, and we're talking about the original here, not the Director's Cut, is a movie that you simply cannot get out of your brain.

After Donnie is saved from near-death by a six-foot-tall rabbit-man named Frank, he is warned of a coming apocalypse. As stranger and stranger things start to happen, Donnie finds his grip on reality slipping between his fingers.

Ever since its release in 2001, Donnie Darko has been subject to countless different interpretations and fan theories, which is enough to earn it a spot here, but there is something at the core of the film that seems to go totally overlooked.

Along with being a complex sci-fi movie and psychological thriller, Donnie Darko is a rare example of an anti-coming of age story; one about a mentally ill kid failed by his own community.

Coming of age narratives just about always end with the protagonist, well, coming of age and overcoming whatever hurdles were in their way. Donnie Darko on the other hand ends in complete opposition to this, making for a movie that captures the ugly tragedy of mental illness society so willingly turns a blind eye to.