10 Best Science Fiction Movies (Not Set In Space)

Late-'80s suburbia is not where most directors go prospecting for sci-fi gold, but Donnie Darko surfaced with a dark, diamond-hard edge and enough mind-bending turns to put most big-budget, neon-futured pictures to shame.

Undeniably Richard Kelly's best picture and an indie darling of the genre, Donnie Darko follows Jake Gyllenhaal's Donnie across 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds, as he attempts to solve the weird events that he finds himself the centre of (deaths, vortexes, man-size horror bunnies), all the while fighting the sleepy, middle-class suburban power.

With a rewinding, foretelling and clairvoyant plot, the film manages to burn bright on the mind while remaining moody and, for the most part visually understated. Tactfully avoiding the usual genre tropes, Donnie Darko carved its own runes into the time travel-sci-fi annals, delivering an indie flick about a boy with a superhero name who, through all the melancholy and pre-MCR emo attitude, manages to save the world.

The film demands multiple viewings to get to grips with both the overarching plot and all the nitty gritty details, but it is worth every moment.