8 Most Confusing Movies Nobody Understands

Richard Kelly set out to boggle minds with Donnie Darko, a barely coherent tapestry of time travel, alternate universes, wormholes and giant rabbits. Those are some weighty concepts to serve up in your feature-length debut, but the way the movie was cut for cinema only made it more difficult to understand.

So many key scenes that would have added context to the movie's underlying mechanics were left on the cutting room floor. Only when the director's cut was released in 2004 did it become apparent what Donnie Darko was actually about.

Even without understanding what a Living Receiver or an Ensurance Trap is, it's possible to enjoy Donnie Darko as an ambiguous piece of science fiction. It's palpable sense of creeping doom and Jake Gyllenhaal's break-through performance alone make it worth a watch, and that's even true of the inferior theatrical cut.

But can anyone really claim to fully understand every one of its philosophical and scientific concepts? There have been extensive essays written about them in the hope of finding clarity, most of which barely scratch the surface.