8 Small Details You Only Notice Rewatching Donnie Darko

Upon rewatching Donnie Darko viewers will notice three of the movie's key plot points are signposted in the run-up to their occurrence.

The events that lead up to the exposing of Jim Cunningham are foreshadowed during two minor moments. When Donnie and Gretchen walk past Cunningham's mansion, he is telling her about when he accidentally burned down a house. Also, during Life Line, the card Donnie reads out is about a girl who finds a wallet. He later finds himself in this scenario in the real world, when he discovers Cunningham's lost wallet.

Frank is spotted early in the film driving around in a red car. However, this is more than a bizarre background cameo. Frank later appears in the car, accidentally running over Gretchen, sparking to the film's dramatic conclusion.

Frank's eventual fate is alluded to earlier in the story. During the cinema scene when Donnie quizzes him about his mask, Frank removes it, revealing that his right eye is marred by a wound. During the film's finale, this is the eye in which Donnie shoots Frank, before he goes on to change this reality.