v-rabbit

Stuck! Too much guessing in the left part!

Now I got it!

I need help in the left part, please, help me :)

The left side is approx the inverse mirror of the right side. You have half the rabbit's face on the right.

This is clever once you undestand the other side is a mirror image.

Flippin heck that were clever thanks.

DONNIE DARKO


by

Richard Kelly


This is the shooting script that was used by
the cast and crew during the shooting of the film.


Converted to PDF and contributed by RonCecchini@comcast.net



FADE IN:


We descend upon Carpathian Ridge, a crescent-shaped cliff
that extrudes from the dense Virginia evergreens above a
deep rock canyon.

The cliff marks the end of a dirt road that winds down from
above .

Donnie Darko (sixteen) is asleep at the edge of the cliff.
With his bike collapsed next to him, he is shivering, curled
up on the foetal position.

He slowly opens his eyes and looks around, disoriented by
the morning light. He then stands up, looking down into the
expansive rock canyon. After a moment of hesitation, he
takes his bike back up the hill.

EXT. MIDDLESEX - MORNING (11 A.M.)

Montage is choreographed to 'Never Tear Us Apart' by INXS.

Donnie pedals down into the suburban village of Middlesex,
Virginia ...passing by a large rock 'Middlesex' rock-pattern.

Donnie pedals past two neighbourhood women who are
speedwalking with handweights. They smile at him.

A Pontiac Trans-Am speeds by.

EXT. NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET - DAY (SATURDAY 1 P.M.)

Donnie turns the corner and heads towards the garage.

We pan over to the Darko house... moving through the front
yard where Eddie Darko (forty-four) pulls the cord and his
gas-powered leaf-blower roars to life.

Elizabeth Darko (nineteen) comes out the front door. She
approaches her dad from behind. Eddie turns and aims the
leaf-blower at her face... blasting her with air.

EXT. DARKO DRIVEWAY - NEXT

Donnie parks his bike and goes inside.

EXT. DARKO BACKYARD / PATIO - NEXT

We pull back from Samantha Darko (ten) as she is jumping on
a trampoline and pan over to Rose Darko (forty-two) as she
sits at a table reading a paperback copy of Stephen King's
"IT". She glances over to the kitchen.

INT. KITCHEN - NEXT

Donnie walks into the kitchen. He then goes to the
refrigerator .



Printed in magic marker on the refrigerator notepad is the
phrase :

WHERE IS DONNIE?

INT. FAMILY ROOM - EVENING (5 P.M.)

The opening theme of "Who's the Boss?" begins as we see Tony
Danza's blue van and the title card. We reveal Samantha,
sitting on the floor, singing softly to the theme song "Brand
New Life" performed by Larry Weiss.

We pan over to Donnie, sitting in the La-Z Boy.

INT. KITCHEN - EVENING (6 P.M.)

The Darko family has convened for dinner. They eat silently
for several moments.


ELIZABETH

I'm voting for Dukakis.

EDDIE

Perhaps when you have children of
your own that need braces, and you
can't afford them because half of
your husband's paycheck goes to the
federal government, you'll regret
that decision.

ELIZABETH

(amused bitterness)

I'm not gonna squeeze one out until
I ' m thirty .

DONNIE

Will you still be working at Yarn
Barn? 'Cause that's a great place
to raise children.

ROSE

No, a year of partying is enough.
She'll be going to Harvard this fall.

ELIZABETH

I haven't been accepted yet, mother.
ROSE

( smiles )

If you think Michael Dukakis will
provide for this country prior to
the point when you decide to squeeze
one out, then I think you're
misinformed .

SAMANTHA

When can I squeeze one out?



DONNIE
(to his sister)

Not until like... eighth grade.
ROSE

(to Donnie)

Excuse me?


ELIZABETH

Donnie? You're a dick.

DONNIE

Whoa, Elizabeth. A little hostile,
there. Maybe you should be the one
in therapy. Then Mom and Dad can
pay someone two hundred dollars an
hour to listen to all of your
thoughts... so we won't have to.

ELIZABETH

Maybe you'd like to tell Mom and Dad
why you stopped taking your
medication .

An awkward silence.


ROSE

(surprised)

You've stopped taking your medication
SAMANTHA

When can I squeeze one out, Mom?
DONNIE

(glaring at Elizabeth)

You're such a fuck-ass.

ROSE

When did you stop taking your
medication?


ELIZABETH

(laughing)

Did you just call me a fuck-ass?
ROSE

That's enough.

ELIZABETH
(to Donnie)

You can suck a fuck .

DONNIE

Oh, please tell me, Elizabeth, how
exactly does one suck a fuck?



ROSE

(disgusted)

We will not have this kind of language
at the dinner table .

They are all silent for a moment.

SAMANTHA

What's a fuck-ass?

Despite his brave efforts to hold back laughter, Eddie Darko
lets out a slight guffaw.

INT. ELIZABETH'S ROOM - EVENING (SATURDAY NIGHT, 9 P.M.)

Elizabeth talks on the phone, getting ready for her Saturday
night. Rose knocks and then enters.

ELIZABETH
(into the phone)

No. I took a year off to be with
you .

(beat )

Of course I care. Don't get angry.

(covering the phone)

What ?


ROSE

How did you know -

ELIZABETH
(cutting her off)

I didn't realise it was such a big
deal .


ROSE

It is a big deal.

ELIZABETH

I caught him flushing pills down the
toilet. He knows you check the
container .

INT. DONNIE'S ROOM - NEXT

Donnie lies on his bed, reading "Collected Short Stories" by
Graham Greene. His room is an organised wreck.

Rose enters and begins to pick things up of the floor.

DONNIE

Get out of my room.

Rose bitterly turns to leave, but stops at the door.

ROSE

I wish I knew where you went at night .

(MORE)



ROSE (CONT'D)


(beat )

Did you toilet paper the Johnson's
house?

DONNIE
(still reading)

I stopped rolling houses in the sixth
grade, Mom.

(beat )

Get out of my room.

ROSE

You know. . . it would be nice to look
at you some time... and see my son.

I don't recognise this person today.

DONNIE

Then why don't you start taking the
goddamn pills?

Donnie leans over and turns off his lamp. Rose turns and
leaves her son alone in the dark, closing the door behind
her .

DONNIE (CONT'D)

Bitch .

INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NEXT

Rose stops in her tracks, hearing this. She then walks into
her bedroom and closes the door.

INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NEXT

Rose goes into bed with Eddie, who is reading a hardback
copy of Stephen King's "The Tommyknockers " .

ROSE

Our son just called me a bitch.

EDDIE

(beat )

You're not a bitch.

INT. UPSTAIRS BATHROOM - NEXT

Donnie removes his pills from the medicine cabinet. We see
insert that reads: L. THURMAN M.D.

He looks at the bottle for a moment, and then takes three
pills and swallows them. . . staring at his reflection in the
mirror .

INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT (12 A.M.)

Eddie sits up in bed, unable to sleep.



6 .


INT. FAMILY ROOM - NEXT

The TV pops on. Eddie drops into the La-Z Boy.

They are replaying a Bush/Dukakis debate. Eddie laughs.

INT. FOYER - NEXT

We pull back and pan over to a grandfather clock... as the
hand reaches midnight.

Title card:

OCTOBER 2 1988

INT. DONNIE'S ROOM - NIGHT (EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, 1 A.M.)

VOICE

(whisper)

Wake. . . up . . . Donnie.

Donnie jerks upright in his bed, awakened from a bad dream.
He looks over at his alarm clock: 12:50 a.m. His expression
is distant... confused.

INT. FOYER - NEXT

Donnie walks downstairs.

INT. FAMILY ROOM - NEXT

Donnie stares at Eddie, asleep in the La-Z Boy.

INT. KITCHEN - NEXT

Donnie walks into the kitchen, removes the magic marker from
the refrigerator message board.

INT. FOYER - NEXT

Donnie walks to the front and exits the house.

EXT. DARKO HOUSE, FRONT YARD - NEXT

Donnie walks down the front walk to the street.

EXT. NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET - NEXT
Donnie walks down the street.

EXT. SEVENTH HOLE - NIGHT (1:30 A.M.)

Donnie arrives next to the pin and stares off into the
distance .



VOICE

Helluva night for a walk... huh,

Donnie?

Donnie stares off into the distance.

VOICE (CONT'D)

Tonight is very special, Donnie.

DONNIE

What ?

VOICE

I've been watching you.

(beat )

Do you believe in God, Donnie?

Donnie doesn't answer. He holds his stomach, taking deep
breaths .


VOICE (CONT'D)

God loves his children, Donnie. God
loves you.

There... standing on the seventh hole is a six-foot-tall
figure dressed in a grotesque bunny suit.

Donnie stares at the Bunny nervously as a wave of nausea
overcomes him.

BUNNY

My name is Frank.

(beat )

I want you to follow me.

DONNIE

Why?

FRANK

I'm here to save you.

(beat )

The world is coming to an end, Donnie.

Donnie doesn't answer.


FRANK (CONT'D)

Look up in the sky, Donnie.

He looks up into the black night.

FRANK (CONT'D)

28 days ... 6 hours ... 42 minutes . . .
12 seconds. That is when the world
will end.


Donnie looks back at Frank. His expression is a vacant expanse
of confusion.



INT. FOYER - NIGHT


Elizabeth comes through the front door, leans back against
it, closes her eyes.

INT. FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT

Eddie Darko sleeps reclined in the La-Z Boy. The final notes
of the Channel 12 National Anthem fade away to static.

From above... a thunderous crash. Plaster rains from the
ceiling ...Books fly off the bookshelf as the entire wall-
mount collapses to the floor.

Eddie jerks awake.

INT. FOYER - NEXT

Elizabeth falls back in horror as plaster rains down from
around the chandelier... debris falling in the dining-room
doorway .

EXT. SEVENTH HOLE - MORNING (SUNDAY MORNING, 10 A.M.)

Donnie is curled up, asleep on the green. A golf ball lands
on the green and rolls within inches of his head.

A golf cart filled with four older men arrives. Dr. Fisher
(forty-five) gets out first.

DR. FISHER
Donnie Darko?

(beat )

Son? What's going on here?

Jim Cunningham (forty) , the man riding shotgun, gets out of
the cart and walks over.

JIM CUNNINGHAM
Who is it, Don?

DR. FISHER
Eddie Darko' s kid.

Donnie gets up and brushes himself off. On his arm he sees
something written in black magic marker.

Numbers.... 28:06:42:12.

Donnie stares at the numbers on his arm, confused.

DR. FISHER (CONT'D)

(to Jim, kissing his
ass)

Sorry about this, Jim, just a... a
kid from the neighbourhood.

(MORE)



9 .


DR. FISHER (CONT'D)

(back to Donnie)

So let's stay off the greens at night,

OK?

Jim Cunningham stares at Donnie with a friendly grin.

DONNIE

Sorry, Dr. Fisher. It won't happen
again .

EXT. NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET / DARKO HOUSE - MORNING (11 A.M.)

Donnie walks down the street towards his house.

A fire engine. Two police cars. A news van... All parked in
front of his house.

There are dozens of neighbours in the street surrounding a
barricade. Donnie moves through the crowd where a Police
Officer is standing.


DONNIE

Hey, I live here!

POLICE OFFICER
Are you... Donnie Darko?

DONNIE

Yeah !

The Officer lets him through.

Near the cul-de-sac there is a large caterpillar crane lifting
something from inside the house. There are firemen roaming
around. Two Police Officers are speaking with Eddie and Rose.

Donnie looks over at the house.

A crane lifts a gigantic jet engine over from the house
towards a large flatbed truck. Firemen kick pieces of wood
and shingle from the roof.

He turns and sees his entire family standing there. Eddie is
holding Samantha.


SAMANTHA
It fell on your room.

EXT. CUL-DE-SAC - LATER ON

Two men in suits approach from a black sedan. A police officer
directs them to Rose. One of the men removes a badge from
his pocket and holds it up for Rose to see.



MAN

Mrs. Darko, my name is Bob Garland
and this is David Coleman. We're
with the FAA . If you don't mind,
we'd like to speak with you and your
husband privately.

Elizabeth looks over at Donnie with a grin.

ELIZABETH

(whispering)

They don't know where it came from.

Donnie looks over in awe as the mammoth engine is now strapped
to the flatbed truck. A man in a silver firesuit sprays the
engine down with water.

EXT. CUL-DE-SAC - MOMENTS LATER

Eddie is signing some documents in front of Garland at a
table that has been set up. Another FAA guy is there.

FAA MAN

(pointing to the
document )

And then here as well.

Eddie signs off, and Garland takes the documents.

GARLAND

We've arranged for you to stay at a
hotel, get some sleep. We'll take
care of things here .

Eddie picks Samantha up into his arms. He stands with Rose
and Elizabeth... turning towards Donnie... who seems lost in
a trance.


EDDIE

Come on, Donnie... we're going to a
hotel .

INT. HOLIDAY INN, ROOM 614 - SUNDOWN (SUNDAY NIGHT, 5:30
P .M. )

Donnie lies in bed, watching television. Elizabeth is spread
out on the other bed. Samantha sits on the edge of Elizabeth's
bed, holding a stuffed unicorn named Ariel.

SAMANTHA

If it fell from a plane, then what
happened to the plane?

ELIZABETH

They don't know, Samantha.



11 .


SAMANTHA

Is there any way that we can make
money from this? Couldn't we get on
television if we sue the airline?

INT. HOLIDAY INN, ROOM 615 - NEXT

Rose and Eddie lie awake in the dark.

ROSE

So let me get this straight. No
airline will claim ownership of the
engine. So we have to wait for the
FAA to decide who fixes my roof,
(beat )

Fuck that. We're taking the money
out of savings .

EDDIE

(quoting Rod Serling)

You are entering a new dimension of
sight and sound. . .

Rose begins to laugh.

INT. HOLIDAY INN, ROOM 614 - NEXT

SAMANTHA

Why do I have to sleep with Donnie?
He stinks.


DONNIE

When you fall asleep tonight, I'm
gonna fart in your face.

SAMANTHA

(walking to the door)

I'm telling Mom.

ELIZABETH

Samantha, don't go over there.

INT. HOLIDAY INN, ROOM 615 - LATER THAT NIGHT

EDDIE

Frankie Feedler.

ROSE

What ?

EDDIE

Frankie Feedler. You remember him
from high school?

ROSE

(long beat)

He was a year ahead of us?



EDDIE

He died, remember? On the way to the
prom .

(beat )

He was doomed.

Rose lies there silently.

EDDIE (CONT'D)

Jesus Christ. They could have said
the same thing about Donnie. Our
Donnie .

(beat )

But he dodged it. He dodged his
bullet, Rose.

Rose rolls over to embrace him.

EDDIE (CONT'D)

That ' s my boy .

Moments later, the door to the adjoining room opens. It is
Samantha .

SAMANTHA

Mom, Donnie said he's gonna fart in
my face .

Title card:

OCTOBER 3 1988

EXT. BUS STOP - MORNING (MONDAY MORNING, 7 A.M.)

Rose drops Donnie and Samantha off at the corner.

ROSE

Ms. Farmer will pick you up from
recital. Bye, now.

She pulls of in the Taurus.

Already waiting at the bus stop is Joanie James (eleven) .

Also Cherita Chen (fifteen) .

SAMANTHA

Hi, Cherita.

CHERITA

Chut up .

Also there are Donnie's two best friends, Sean Smith (sixteen)
and Ronald Fisher (fifteen)



13 .


RONALD

(raising his hands in
victory)

DARKO CHEATS DEATH! Man... you're
famous! I called you, like, a jillion
times last night!

DONNIE

We went to a hotel.

RONALD

My dad said he found you on the golf
course. Are you sleepwalking again?

DONNIE

I don't wanna talk about it.

SEAN

Now that you're famous, you gotta
have a smoke .

Sean hands Donnie a Marlboro Red and he takes it, looking
over at Samantha and Joanie.

DONNIE

What happens if you tell Mom and Dad
about this, Samantha?

SAMANTHA

You'll put Ariel in the garbage
disposal .


JOANIE

So . . . grody .

Sean, Ronald and Donnie light up. Ronald is the most amateur-
looking .


SEAN

Hey, Cherita... want a cigarette?
CHERITA

Chut up .

RONALD

(mimicking)

Chut up !


SEAN

Go back to China, bitch!

DONNIE

Leave her alone, man.

Cherita looks over at Donnie... her quiet devastation poorly
hidden .



EXT. / INT. MIDDLESEX RIDGE SCHOOL - MORNING (8 A.M.)

The following montage is three long Steadicam shots in the
main school hallway and courtyard.

We follow Donnie and his friends as they pour out of the
back of the emergency exit of the school bus to 'Head Over
Heels' by Tears for Fears.

We pick up teachers Karen Pomeroy (twenty-seven) and Dr.
Kenneth Monnitoff (thirty) and Kitty Farmer (forty-two) ,
with Jim Cunningham, as they make their way through the
hallways .

Swarms of girls surround Donnie as he makes his way to his
locker. There is a huge smile on his face.

We reveal Gretchen Ross (fifteen) ... we see Principal Cole
(thirty-eight) and then Samantha's dance team (Sparkle Motion)
practising their routine in the courtyard.

We follow Ms. Pomeroy into English class... then time-lapse
dissolve through the doorway...

INT. ENGLISH CLASS - DAY (8:30 A.M.)

Ms. Pomeroy has been reading from "The Destructors" by Graham
Greene .


MS. POMEROY

"There would be headlines in the
papers . Even the grown-up gangs who
ran the betting at the all-in
wrestling and the barrow-boys would
hear with respect how Old Misery's
house had been destroyed. It was as
though his plan had been with him
all his life, pondered through the
seasons, now in his fifteenth year
crystallised with the pain of
puberty . "

Donnie sits in the front.

MS. POMEROY (CONT'D)

What is Graham Greene trying to
communicate in this passage? Why do
the children break into Old Misery's
house?

Joanie James raises her hand.

MS. POMEROY (CONT'D)

Joanie .

JOANIE

They wanted to rob him.



MS. POMEROY

Joanie, if you had actually read the
short story... which, at a whopping
thirteen pages must have kept you up
all night, you would know that the
children find a great deal of money
hidden in a mattress. But they burn
it .

The class gives an "Awwww. " Joanie blushes.

MS. POMEROY (CONT'D)

Donnie Darko, perhaps, given your
recent brush with mass destruction,
you can give us your opinion?

DONNIE

Well... they say it right when they
are ripping the place to shreds .

When they flood the house. That
like... destruction is a form of
creation. So the fact that they
burn the money is... ironic. They
just want to see what happens when
they tear the world apart .

(beat )

They want to change things .

Gretchen Ross stands at the doorway to the classroom.

MS. POMEROY
May we help you?

GRETCHEN

I just registered, and I think they
put me in the wrong English class.

Ms. Pomeroy studies her.

MS. POMEROY

You look like you belong here.

GRETCHEN
Umm, where do I sit?

Ms. Pomeroy thinks for a moment. There are several empty
chairs .


MS. POMEROY

Sit next to the boy you think is the
cutest. Girls, get up.

The whole class begins to freak out. The girls all get out
of their seats... eating this up. Ronald fixes his hair.

MS. POMEROY (CONT'D)

Quiet! Let her choose.



16 .


Without hesitation, Gretchen scans the class for every guy.
As she gracefully takes her seat next to Donnie, they make
eye contact. Donnie grins ear to ear.

The class freaks out laughing.

INT. TAURUS - SUNSET (MONDAY NIGHT, 6 P.M.)

Eddie drives Donnie down Old Gun Road, a windy back-road
that goes towards the country.

EDDIE

So how was school today?

DONNIE

It was great. We had peanut-butter
sandwiches and apples and honey at
snacktime. And then during show-and-
tell, my stuffed walrus was a big
hit .


EDDIE

Good Lord.

(beat )

So the construction guys say it'll
take about a week to fix the roof.

Damn airline better not fuck us on
the shingle match.

DONNIE

Do they know yet?

EDDIE

Know what?

DONNIE

Where it came from?

EDDIE

No... apparently they can't tell us
what happened yet . Something about a
matching serial number that got
burned .

(beat )

But I had to sign a form saying I
wouldn't talk to anyone about it.

DONNIE

So we're not supposed to tell anybody
what nobody knows?

EDDIE

You tell Dr. Thurman whatever you
want .

Suddenly, Eddie slams on the brakes and the station wagon
comes to a sudden stop.



Oh, shit !


EDDIE (CONT'D)


DONNIE

Grandma Death.

Standing in the road directly in front of the car is Roberta
Sparrow (101 years old, a.k.a. Grandma Death) .

Grandma Death lives in a modest brick house that sits back
in a huge grassy field that overlooks the entire town. Her
mailbox sits on the edge of Old Gun Road.

EXT. OLD GUN ROAD - NEXT

Donnie gets out of the car and takes Grandma Death's hand,
walking her back towards her mailbox. He opens it for her.

DONNIE

No mail today.

( smiles )

Maybe tomorrow.

Grandma Death smiles back at him. . . and begins to walk slowly
back to her house. She then turns and takes Donnie's hands
into her frail grip.

GRANDMA DEATH
(speaking slowly)

Every living creature... on this
earth . . .

(beat )

. . . dies alone .

Donnie stands there silently for a moment, and then Grandma
Death turns back towards her house.

EXT. DR. THURMAN'S RANCH - SUNSET

We see a large colonial rancher in the distance.

INT. THERAPIST'S OFFICE - EVENING

Dr. Lilian Thurman (fifty-eight) is a beautiful older woman.

DR. THURMAN

Your mother said that you've been
skipping cycles of your medication.

DONNIE

I've been taking it. I just like to
make her feel guilty for all of this.

You know, abuse her. Psychologically.

DR. THURMAN

All of this... certainly isn't your
mother's fault, Donald.



He is quiet for a moment.


DONNIE

So, I met a new friend.

DR. THURMAN

Would you like to talk about this
friend?

DONNIE

His name is Frank.

DR. THURMAN

Frank .

DONNIE

I think he saved my life.

DR. THURMAN

How so?

DONNIE

Don't you watch the news?

DR. THURMAN

I don't own a television.

DONNIE

A jet engine fell on my house. . .
landed on my bed. While I was talking
to Frank on the golf course.

Dr. Thurman looks at him for a long beat, analysing whether
or not he is telling her the truth.

DONNIE (CONT'D)

I'm not kidding.

Concerned, Dr. Thurman leans in closer.

DR. THURMAN

Frank. . . instructed you. . . to get
out of bed. . . just before this
happened .


DONNIE

He said to follow him.

DR. THURMAN
Follow him where?

DONNIE

Into the future.

(beat )

Then he said that the world was coming
to an end.



19 .


He rubs his arm, where the numbers are still lightly drawn.

DR. THURMAN

Do you believe that the world is
coming to an end?

DONNIE
(long beat)

No .

(beat )

That's stupid.

INT. MIDDLESEX RIDGE SCHOOL - HALLWAY

In the empty school hallway... a gigantic tidal wave forms
in the distance and comes crashing towards us between the
lockers .

INT. FAMILY ROOM - NIGHT (EARLY TUESDAY MORNING, 2 A.M.)

Donnie lies on the couch... fast asleep. His eyes slowly
open .

There, standing in the corner of the room in the shadows is
Frank .

FRANK

Wake up, Donnie.

INT. MIDDLESEX RIDGE SCHOOL - NIGHT

In the dark school hallway, Donnie rounds the corner with a
flashlight, a can of spray paint, and an axe. Frank stands
in the same hallway where the tidal wave crashed.

INT. SCHOOL BASEMENT - NEXT

Donnie shines the flashlight through the basement. He
approaches some old piping.

Donnie puts the axe back over his shoulder and then lowers
it fiercely. The smashing of metal against metal echoes
through the huge room.

Title card:

OCTOBER 4 1988

EXT. BUS STOP - MORNING (7:45 A.M.)

The same group stands and waits for the bus. The guys smoke.

Cherita stands alone. Samantha is reading something to
Joanie .



20 .


SAMANTHA
( reading)

"And then the prince was led into a
world of strange and beautiful magic."

JOAN IE

Wow .

Donnie grabs the piece of paper from his sister.

DONNIE

(reading out loud)

"The Last Unicorn!" By Samantha Darko.
SAMANTHA

Donnie! Give it back!


He pushes her away.


SAMANTHA (CONT'D)

You're wrinkling it!

SEAN

Hey, it's 7:45. The bus shoulda been
here, like, twenty minutes ago.

RONALD

Maybe Martha Moo finally went nuts
and hijacked the bus.

SEAN

(excited)

You know, there's, like, this rule.

We get to go home at 7:55.

RONALD

There's no rule!

SEAN

Fuck yeah there is! If the bus doesn't
show up in thirty minutes, you're
supposed to go straight home.

DONNIE

Yeah... he's right. Because if we
keep waiting, some guy in a van might
pull up and try to molest us. And
then our parents could sue the school
board .

Everyone starts to get excited. . . looking down the road to
see if the bus is coming.


Sean's watch hits 7:55. No bus.



SEAN

All right! 7:55. Everybody goes
home .

RONALD

Let's go to Donnie's house. His
parents are both at work.

The three guys begin walking.

DONNIE

Come on, Sam, you can call Joanie's
mom from home.

The two girls follow them. Cherita stands at the corner.

DONNIE (CONT'D)

Hey, Cherita... you should go home.

SEAN

Yeah, if you're still here and the
bus comes, we'll get in trouble.

CHERITA

Chut up .

SEAN

Hey, porky pig. I hope you get
molested !

Suddenly, Emily Bates (ten) and Susie Bates (eight) run up
to the bus stop.

EMILY

Hey! Our mom said that school is
cancelled today because it's flooded!

JOAN IE

No . . . way .

A horrible expression appears on Donnie's face.

INT. MIDDLESEX RIDGE SCHOOL - MORNING

A janitor named Leroy (fifty-five) stands at the end of the
hall with Principal Cole. Water rushes past their feet down
the steps .

LEROY

I got twelve classrooms full of water.

All coming from a busted water main.


What else?


PRINCIPAL COLE



LEROY

What else? Shit, Principal Cole,
you ain't gonna believe what else.

EXT. BACK COURTYARD - MORNING

They stand before the bronze Middlesex mongrel. Spray-painted
on the concrete before it is the phrase: THEY MADE ME DO IT.

There are papers strewn everywhere. Embedded in the head of
the mongrel is an axe.


PRINCIPAL COLE
Christ. Is that an axe?

LEROY

Yep.

PRINCIPAL COLE
How did this happen?

LEROY

(beat )

I guess they made him do it.

Leroy can't help himself. He has to laugh.

PRINCIPAL COLE
You're fired.

Principal Cole walks off.

EXT. BUS STOP 2 - EARLY MORNING (8:15 A.M.)

Donnie, Sean, Ronald, Samantha and Joanie, Emily and Susie
walk from their bus stop.

RONALD

School's closed! Everybody go home!

EMILY

Nu-huh .

SAMANTHA

Yeah-huh. A cat burglar broke him
and trashed everything.

Susie talks with Emily. Joanie and Samantha listen in.

EMILY

Mom said that the boys ' locker room
looked like a swimming pool... and
that they found faeces everywhere.

SUSIE

What are faeces?



23 .


EMILY

Baby mice.

SUSIE

Aww.

JOAN IE

Oh my God, that is so grody.

EXT. BUS STOP 3 - NEXT

Sean looks down to another bus stop down the street.

SEAN

School's cancelled!

A bunch of young kids scream out... jumping up and down.
EXT. BUS STOP 4 - NEXT

Donnie approaches another corner alone. Ricky Danforth
(seventeen) and Seth Devlin (eighteen) stand with Gretchen.

SETH

(smoking a cigarette)

Has anyone ever told you that you're
sexy?

RICKY

I like your boobs.

Gretchen looks at them with disgust.

Donnie walks into the group.

DONNIE

Hey . . .

GRETCHEN

Hey . . .

DONNIE

School's cancelled.

They look at one another, surprised.

GRETCHEN
(to Donnie)

Wanna walk me home?

DONNIE

Sure .

They guickly begin to walk off. Seth and Ricky look off at
them, furious .



24 .


GRETCHEN

Don't look so freaked.

DONNIE

I'm not. But you should check your
backpack 'cause those guys like to
steal shit .

GRETCHEN

Fuck them.

Gretchen smiles at Donnie, and then turns back and gives
them the middle finger.

EXT. NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET - NEXT (8:30 A.M.)

Donnie and Gretchen walk along the sidewalk together.

DONNIE

So... you just moved here?

GRETCHEN

Yeah. My parents got divorced. My
mom has a restraining order against
my stepdad.

(beat )

He has... emotional problems.

DONNIE

Oh, I... have those too.

(beat )

What kind of problems does your dad
have?


GRETCHEN
(long beat)

He stabbed my mom four times in the
chest .

Donnie is shocked.


DONNIE

Wow. Did he go to jail?

GRETCHEN

He fled. They still can't find him.
(beat )

My mom and I had to change our names
and stuff. I thought Gretchen sounded
kind of cool.

DONNIE

I'm sorry. I was in jail once.

(beat )

I accidentally burned down this house.
It was abandoned.

(MORE)



25 .


DONNIE (CONT'D)

I got held back in school again.

Can't drive until I'm eighteen,
(babbling)

I think when I grow up I want to be
a painter. Or maybe a writer or
maybe both. Then I'll write a book
and draw the illustrations like a
comic book. You know, change things.

GRETCHEN

Donnie Darko is a cool name. Sounds
like a superhero.

DONNIE

What makes you think I'm not?
Gretchen smiles. She looks over at her house.

GRETCHEN

I should go. For physics. Monnitoff
says I have to write an essay on the
greatest invention ever to benefit
mankind .


DONNIE

That's easy. Antiseptics.
She gives him a look.


DONNIE (CONT'D)

I mean, the whole sanitation thing.
Joseph Lister... 1895. Before
antiseptics there was no sanitation,
especially in medicine.

GRETCHEN
You mean soap?

DONNIE

Don't knock soap. Without it, disease
would spread rapidly. If we ran out...
you and I would never live to see
the year 2000.

GRETCHEN

Wonder where we'll be then.

DONNIE

The best thing about soap is that
it ' s the only thing on earth that
can never get dirty. No matter what
crap you throw on it ... it always
rubs off. And there it is again...
perfect .



26 .


GRETCHEN

Until it withers away.

She stares at him for a moment.

DONNIE

It's a good thing the school was
flooded today.

GRETCHEN

Why is that?

DONNIE

We never would have had this
conversation .

She smiles.

GRETCHEN
You're weird.

DONNIE

I ' m sorry .

GRETCHEN

That was a compliment.

DONNIE

Will you go with me?

GRETCHEN

Where are we going?

DONNIE

No. . . I mean, will you GO with me?

That's like... what they call it
here. Going together.

GRETCHEN

(beat )

Sure .

She gets up and begins to walk up the hill.

DONNIE

Where are you going?

GRETCHEN
I'm going home.

Title card:

OCTOBER 6 1988

INT. THERAPIST'S OFFICE - EVENING (THURSDAY, 6 P.M.)
Dr. Thurman sits next to Donnie. His eyes are closed.



27 .


DR. THURMAN

And when I clap my hands twice, you
will wake up. Do you understand?

DONNIE

Yes .

DR. THURMAN

So, tell me about your day, Donald.
DONNIE

I met a girl.

DR. THURMAN
What is her name?

DONNIE

Gretchen. We're going together now.
DR. THURMAN

Do you think a lot about girls?

DONNIE

Yes .

DR. THURMAN

How are things going at school?

DONNIE

I think about girls a lot .

DR. THURMAN

I asked you about school.

DONNIE

I think about . . Fucking a lot during
school .

DR. THURMAN

What else do you think about during
school?

DONNIE

I think... about... "Who's the Boss?"

DR. THURMAN
Who is the boss?

DONNIE

I just turn the volume down and think
about fucking Alyssa Milano.

DR. THURMAN

What about your family, Donnie?



DONNIE

No, I don't think about fucking my
family. That's sick!

DR. THURMAN

Donnie. . . I want to hear about your
friend Frank.

Donnie is now undoing his belt. He is no longer paying
attention .

Dr. Thurman quickly claps her hands. Donnie jolts awake...
disoriented .

INT. ENGLISH CLASS - DAY (FRIDAY, 8:30 A.M.)

Donnie sits with his eyes wide open, staring at something.

POLICE OFFICER
(out of shot)

Aaron Armitage... Cherita Chen.

Donnie's face has gone white.

PRINCIPAL COLE
Donald Darko.

We reveal on the blackboard the phrase, "They made me do
it", written over and over again.

We reveal two Police Officers standing next to Principal
Cole in the corner of the classroom.

Donnie gets up and walks over to the board and writes the
phrase .

He then sits down again without hesitation.

The Police Officer hesitates for a moment, lingering over
Donnie's penmanship. He then places a '?' next to Donnie's
name on the roster. Ms. Pomeroy makes eye-contact with him.

INT. HEALTH CLASS - AFTERNOON (FRIDAY, 1 P.M.)

We pull back from a television: a cloud formation blows across
the screen revealing a logo that reads: CUNNING VISIONS
PRODUCTIONS.

A series of interviews follows., infomercial style.

LINDA CONNIE

And what I realised was that my entire
life I was a victim of my own FEAR.

I was FEEDING FEAR WITH FOOD... and
finally... I looked in the mirror.

Not just IN THE MIRROR.

(MORE)



29 .


LINDA CONNIE (CONT'D)

I looked THROUGH the mirror. And in
that image I saw my EGO REFLECTION.

Donnie's health class is assembled in uniform rows in front
of a television cart. Ms. Farmer paces in front of them.

SHANDA RIESMAN
(with her arm around
her geeky son)

...and for two years I thought it
was NORMAL for a fifteen-year-old to
wet the bed.

Laughter from the students.

MS . FARMER

QUIET !

SHANDA RIESMAN
(choking up)

We tried everything. But the solution
was there... all along.

LARRY RIESMAN
(burst out emotionally)

I'm not AFRAID anymore!

A montage of "family" imagery follows.

NARRATOR

All across America... people have
come together to join hands. People
who believe that human life is too
important... too valuable to be
controlled by FEAR.

A middle-aged man walks out onto a country patio. It is Jim
Cunningham... the guy from the golf course.

JIM CUNNINGHAM

Hello. My name is Jim Cunningham.

And welcome to "Controlling Fear" .

The title CONTROLLING FEAR appears on the screen... followed
by PART ONE: ATTITUDINAL BELIEFS.

FRANK (V.O.)

Pay close attention, you could miss
something .

Donnie stares at the screen... at Jim Cunningham.



EXT. OLD GUN RUINS


AFTERNOON (FRIDAY MAGIC HOUR, 4:30 P.M.)


The ruins of a brick chimney sit in the middle of a field.
Donnie, Sean and Ronald have lined up several empty beer
bottles, cans and stuffed animals on the hearth.

They take turns blasting these targets with a BB gun.

Blam! A can falls over. Ronald hands the gun to Donnie. Sean
pulls out a bottle of Raspberry Night Train and takes a sip.

He hands the bottle to Ronald.

RONALD

What is this shit?

SEAN

Raspberry .

He takes a big sip... which results in a dry heave.

RONALD

Raspberry. That's good shit.

Donnie aims the crosshairs on Smurfette's head. He pulls the
trigger. Smurf ette falls over.

RONALD (CONT'D)

Wicked .

SEAN

No more fuckin' for her.

RONALD

Smurfette doesn't fuck.

SEAN

Bullshit. Smurfette fucks all the
other smurfs. That's why Papa Smurf
made her, 'cause the other smurfs
were getting too horny.

RONALD

Not Vanity. He's a homo.

Blam! A bottle shatters.

SEAN

Then she fucks 'em all while Vanity
watches. And Papa Smurf films it.

Ronald takes another sip of Night Train... followed by another
dry heave. Blam! A bottle breaks.

DONNIE

First of all... Papa Smurf didn't
create Smurfette. Gargamel did.

(MORE)



DONNIE (CONT'D)

She was sent in as Gargemel's evil
spy, with the intention of destroying
the smurf village. But the
overwhelming Goodness of the Smurf
Way of Life transformed her into the
Smurfette we all know and love. And
as for the whole gang-bang scenario...
it just couldn't happen. Smurfs are
asexual. They probably don't even
have reproductive organs down there
under those little white pants. The
only reason they exist is because of
magic spells and witchcraft... which
is all a bunch of bullshit if you
ask me.

(beat )

That's what's so illogical about the
smurfs... what's the point of living
if you don't have a dick?

Donnie aims the gun... pulls the trigger. Blam! A bottle
breaks .


RONALD

Dammit, Donnie! Why do you always
gotta get all smart on us !

Donnie takes the bottle of Night Train and takes a small
sip .

Their conversation is interrupted by the squealing of tyres.
EXT. OLD GUN ROAD - NEXT (MAGIC HOUR, 5 P.M.)

Down the hill, a Dodge minivan is stopped on Old Gun Road.
Grandma Death is once again in the middle of the street .

DONNIE

Grandma Death.

Ms. farmer leans her head out of the window.

MS . FARMER

Excuse me !

Grandma Death doesn't hear her. She wanders around in circles.

Furious, Ms. Farmer gets out of the car and walks over to
the old woman, walking her by the shoulders back to her
driveway .

MS. FARMER (CONT'D)

Please stay out of the road, Ms.

Sparrow. If this happens again, I'm
going to call social services.



Ms. Farmer gets back behind the wheel and they drive off.
Grandma Death lurks around her mailbox.

RONALD

How old is Grandma Death?

DONNIE

A hundred and one, I think. Every
day she does the same thing. But
there's never any mail.

Grandma Death approaches the mailbox.

SEAN

Here we go... this could be it.

She opens it... then closes it. Walks away.

RONALD

Awwww. That sucks.

She approaches the box again...

SEAN

Wait a minute... we may still have
mail . . .

Opens it... closes it. Walks away.

RONALD

Noooo !

They continue to watch her, sipping liquor into the sunset,
as Grandma Death repeats this act like an ancient wind-up
doll.

INT. FAMILY ROOM - EVENING (FRIDAY, 7 P.M.)

Donnie lies on the couch watching television... where there
is a news story about the flooded school. Several construction
workers are packing up their things.

INT. UPSTAIRS BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER (7:15 P.M.)

Looking nauseous, Donnie opens the medicine cabinet and
retrieves his pills. He takes four of them. Donnie takes a
drink of water, closing his eyes. He puts the pills back and
closes the cabinet.

In the mirror's reflection is Frank. Donnie jumps.

FRANK

You got away with it. Don't worry.



33 .


Donnie reaches his hand out towards Frank and it presses
against an invisible wall, as if he were pressing his hand
against liquid glass.

DONNIE

How can you do that?

FRANK

I can do anything I want . . . and so
can you . . .

Donnie stares closely at Frank. He then removes his hands
and moves back away from him.

EXT. MIDDLESEX SCHOOL AUDITORIUM - EVENING (7:15 P.M.)

A sign reads: EMERGENCY PTA MEETING TONIGHT.

INT. AUDITORIUM - EVENING (7:15 P.M.)

Parents and teachers convene in front of the auditorium
entrance .

Kitty Farmer hands out Xeroxed images of something.

Eddie and Rose chit-chat with other concerned parents.

Ms. Pomeroy approaches Kitty Farmer.

MS. POMEROY

What are you trying to accomplish
here?

MS . FARMER
(indignant )

There was urine and faeces flooded
in my office.

INT. AUDITORIUM - LATER ON

The crowd settles... Principal Cole takes the stage.

PRINCIPAL COLE

In co-operation with the county
police, we have begun an active
investigation into the cause of the
flooding... and our suspects include
several of our own students.

Kitty Farmer stands up in her seat near the front row.

MS . FARMER

I want to know why this FILTH is
being taught to our children.


The crowd stirs.



PRINCIPAL COLE

Kitty, I would appreciate... if you
could wait . . .

MS . FARMER

Mr. Cole. . . not only am I a TEACHER. .
but I am also a PARENT of a Middlesex
child. Therefore, I am the ONLY
person here who transcends the parent
teacher bridge.

PRINCIPAL COLE

Kitty . . .

MS . FARMER

The bottom line... Mr. Cole... is
that there is material being taught
to our children that is cause for
this destructive behaviour.

She stands up.

MS. FARMER (CONT'D)

I have in my hand Graham Greene ' s
"The Destructors". This short story
is part of my daughter's English
assignment. In this story, several
children destroy an elderly man's
house from inside out. They destroy
his house without motive, without
moral consequence. They destroy
private property ...and they get
away with it .

Ms. Pomeroy shakes her head bitterly.

MS. FARMER (CONT'D)

And how do they do this? They FLOOD
the house... by breaking through the
water main!


PRINCIPAL COLE
(trying to calm her)

This meeting of the PTA was called
to inform the parents of our ongoing
investigation. . .

MS . FARMER
(enraged)

I AM THE PTA! And I say that this
FILTH is directly related to this
vandalism.


Applause from the crowd.



35 .

MS. FARMER (CONT'D)

I think this garbage should be
removed .

Several shouts of approval come from the crowd.

INT. UPSTAIRS BATHROOM - EVENING
Donnie continues to converse with Frank.

DONNIE

Why did you make me flood the school?

FRANK

We just want to guide you in the
right direction.

DONNIE

Who is . . . we?

FRANK

You'll know soon enough.

DONNIE

(desperate)

Where did you come from?

FRANK

(beat )

Do you believe in time travel, Donnie?

A moment of silence.

SAMANTHA

Who are you talking to?

Donnie turns to see Samantha is standing in the doorway.

Frank is gone.

INT. AUDITORIUM - NIGHT

A heated debate among the parents is under way. Frustrated,
Rose stands up. Karen Pomeroy is furious.

ROSE

Excuse me... but what is the real
issue here? The PTA doesn't ban
books from school.

MS . FARMER

The PTA is here to acknowledge that
there is pornography in our school's
curriculum .

MS. POMEROY
(standing up)

My GOD. . . woman, are you drunk?



36 .


MS . FARMER

Excuse me? You need to go back to
grad school.

ROSE

(to Kitty)

Do you even know who Graham Greene
is ?


MS . FARMER
(to Rose)

I think we've all seen "Bonanza".

Ms. Pomeroy is disgusted. Rose and Eddie burst out laughing,
grab their coats, and leave.

EXT. WIZARD'S ARCADE - AFTERNOON (SATURDAY, 1 P.M.)

Donnie and Gretchen play a Sega race-car driving game. Donnie
drives a souped-up red Ferrari through the Grand Canyon.

GRETCHEN

So when you sleepwalk, can you
remember afterward? Like, do you
dream?


DONNIE

No. I just wake up and I look around,
try to figure out where I am. . . how
I got there.


GRETCHEN

My dad said never wake a
sleepwalker... because they could
drop dead.

The Trans-Am crashes head on into a tree. Game Over.

DONNIE

It's like this big force... that's
in your brain. But sometimes it grows
bigger... and it spread down into
your arms and legs. . . and it just
sends you someplace .

GRETCHEN

So when you sleepwalk, you go
somewhere familiar?

DONNIE

No. Every time I wake up somewhere
different. Sometimes my bike is
laying there next to me. Like once
when I woke up on the edge of this
cliff up on Carpathian Ridge.



GRETCHEN

And you'd never been there before?

They sit silently for a moment.

GRETCHEN (CONT'D)

Donnie?

DONNIE

Yeah?

GRETCHEN

Do you ever feel as though there's
always someone watching you?

DONNIE

Why?

GRETCHEN

Well. . . maybe someone is, like. . .
giving you these dream steroids . And
sleepwalking ...is someone showing
you the way.

Title card:

OCTOBER 13 1988

INT. ENGLISH CLASS - MORNING (THURSDAY, 8 A.M.)

Donnie stands in front of the class. Ms. Pomeroy sits behind
her desk. On the chalkboard is "Poetry Day".

DONNIE

"A storm is coming, Frank says. A
storm that will swallow the
children... and I will deliver them
from the kingdom of pain."

(beat )

"I will deliver the children to their
doorsteps. I will send the monsters
back to the underground. I will send
them back to a place where no one
can see them ...except for me. Because
I am Donnie Darko. "

Donnie returns to his seat. Ms. Pomeroy stares at him
intensely .

MS. POMEROY
Who is Frank?

DONNIE

A six-foot-tall bunny rabbit.

The class begins to laugh. Donnie looks over at Gretchen.



INT. HEALTH CLASS - AFTERNOON (THURSDAY, 1 P.M.)

Ms. Farmer stands next to the television where Jim Cunningham
narrates the Lifeline tutorial.

JIM CUNNINGHAM

And so, let us begin Lifeline Exercise
No. 1 .

"PLEASE PRESS STOP NOW" appears on the screen.

Ms. Farmer stops the tape and moves to the blackboard. On
it, she has drawn a horizontal line book-ended by the words
"Love" and "Fear".


MS . FARMER

As you can see, the Lifeline is
controlled by two polar extremes:
"Fear" and "Love". Fear is in the
negative energy spectrum. Love is
in the positive energy spectrum.

SEAN

(to Donnie)

No duh.


MS . FARMER

Excuse me?

(defensive)

"No duh" is a product of fear.

She stares them down for a moment... shaking her head.

MS. FARMER (CONT'D)

(handing out cards)

Now, on each card is a CHARACTER
DILEMMA which applies to the Lifeline.

Please read each character dilemma
aloud. . . and place an X on the
Lifeline in the appropriate place.

The students read their cards.

KITTY FARMER
We'll start in the front.

Cherita Chen stands up and walks over to the blackboard.
Ms. Farmer pulls up large white cards that have black-and-
white animated cartoons on them.

CHERITA

Juanita has an important maths test
today. She has known about the test
for several weeks, but has not
studied .


(MORE)



39 .


CHERITA (CONT'D)

In order to keep from failing her
class, Juanita decides that she will
cheat on the maths test.

Cherita places an X near the "Fear" end of the lifeline.

MS . FARMER

Good. Next.

Donnie watches as several more students interpret their
respective human dilemmas.

Finally... it is his turn.

DONNIE

Ling Ling finds a wallet on the ground
filled with money. She takes the
wallet to the address on the driver's
license but keeps the money inside
the wallet.

Donnie looks at the blackboard.

DONNIE (CONT'D)

I'm sorry, Ms. Farmer, I just don't
get this.

MS . FARMER
( impatient )

Just place an X in the appropriate
place on the Lifeline.

DONNIE

I just don't get this. Everything
can't be lumped into two categories.

That's too simple.

MS . FARMER

The Lifeline is divided that way.

DONNIE

Well, life isn't that simple. So
what if Ling Ling kept the cash and
returned the wallet? That has nothing
to do with either fear or love.

MS . FARMER
( impatient )

Fear and love are the deepest of
human emotions.

DONNIE

Well, yeah... OK, but you're not
listening to me.

(MORE)



DONNIE (CONT'D)

There are other things that need to
be taken into account here. Like the
whole spectrum of human emotion.

You're just lumping everything into
these two categories... and, like,
denying everything else.

Ms. Farmer stares at Donnie vehemently. She can't believe
what she's hearing.


DONNIE (CONT'D)

People aren't that simple.

MS . FARMER
(not knowing how to
argue with him)

If you don't complete the assignment,
you'll get a zero for the day.

Donnie thinks for a moment... and then raises his hand.

INT. PRINCIPAL COLE'S OFFICE - AFTERNOON (2 P.M.)

Donnie and his parents sit in front of Principal Cole.

PRINCIPAL COLE

Donald. . . let me preface this by
saying that your Iowa scores are. . .

(looking down at the
file)

. . .intimidating.

(rubbing his temples)

So... let's go over this again. What
exactly did you say to Ms. Farmer?

Donnie does not answer. We reveal Ms. Farmer standing in the
corner .

MS . FARMER
(furious )

He asked me to... forcibly insert
the Lifeline exercise card into my
anus .

Silence. Rose looks down, furious. Eddie lets out a snort
laugh which he tries to conceal with a cough. It doesn't
work .

INT. TEACHERS' LOUNGE / OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER (2:15 P.M.)

Eddie and Donnie exit Cole's office, moving on while Rose
approaches Kitty, who looks visibly shaken.

ROSE

Kitty, I don't know what to say.

They've suspended him for two days.

(MORE)



ROSE (CONT'D)


(beat )

Ever since this jet fiasco, I honestly
don't know what has gotten into him.

MS . FARMER

Rose, I'll tell you this because our
daughters have been on dance team
together for two years and I respect
you as WOMAN. But after witnessing
your son's behaviour today, I have...
significant doubts...

(stopping herself)

Our paths through life must be
righteous . I urge you to go home
and look in the mirror and pray that
your son does not succumb to the
path of fear.

Kitty Farmer turns and walks away.

EXT. DARKO BACKYARD / PATIO - SUNSET (MAGIC HOUR, 5:30 P.M.)
Samantha jumps up and down on the trampoline.

INT. DONNIE'S ROOM - NIGHT (5:30 P.M.)

Donnie walks into his room again for the first time since
the accident, looking around at the new furniture, paint and
carpet. Everything is perfect.

Elizabeth appears in the doorway behind him with a cordless
phone in her hand.


ELIZABETH
(into the phone)

Oh my God, remember that gym teacher,

Ms. Farmer?

(beat )

Yeah. Well, I guess my brother called
her a fat bitch today in class and
got suspended. And my parents just
bought him all of this new shit.

(beat )

Yeah, I know. I wish a jet engine
would have fallen on my room.

INT. MARINO'S ITALIAN BISTRO - NIGHT (6 P.M.)

Eddie and Rose sit across from one another at the bistro
patio... having a quiet dinner to themselves.

ROSE

He's too old to be behaving this
way .


Eddie considers this.



EDDIE

Oh, I say we buy him a moped.


INT. DONNIE'S ROM - NIGHT (7 P.M.)

Donnie lies in bed... looking up at the ceiling. He then
rolls over and looks at the calendar on his wall. The days
of the month of October are marked off with an X in each
square. Tacked onto the calendar is a drawing of Frank.

DONNIE

28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12
seconds .

INT. PHYSICS CLASS - DAY (FRIDAY, 2:30 P.M.)

As everyone is leaving class, Donnie stays behind.

DONNIE

Dr. Monnitoff?

DR. MONNITOFF

Donnie .

DONNIE

I know that this is gonna sound kinda
weird. . . but do you know anything
about time travel?

Dr. Monnitoff pauses, turns and looks at Donnie. He seems to
know something.

INT. PHYSICS CLASS - LATER ON

Dr. Monnitoff has drawn a diagram on the blackboard. In his
hand he holds a copy of Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History
of Time " .


DR. MONNITOFF

So. . . according to Hawking. . .
wormholes might be able to provide a
shot cut for jumping between two
distant regions of space-time.

DONNIE

So... in order to travel back in
time, you'd have to have a big
spaceship or something that can travel
faster than the speed of light --

DR. MONNITOFF
Theoretically .

DONNIE

-- and be able to find one of these
wormholes .



43 .


DR. MONNITOFF

A wormhole with an Einstein-Rosen
bridge, which is, theoretically... a
wormhole in space controlled by man.

DONNIE

So . . . that ' s it?


DR. MONNITOFF

The basic principles of time travel
are there.

(beat )

So you have the vessel and the portal.

And the vessel can be anything.

Most likely a spacecraft.

EXT. SCHOOL COURTYARD - NEXT

Cherita Chen listens to this conversation intently.

INT. PHYSICS CLASS - NEXT

DONNIE

Like a DeLorean.

DR. MONNITOFF
( smiling)

A metal craft of any kind.

Donnie stares at him intently. Dr. Monnitoff walks over to
his desk and picks up a book.

DR. MONNITOFF (CONT'D)

Don't tell anybody that I gave you
this .

(beat )

The woman who wrote it . . . used to
teach here a long time ago. She was
a nun for many years and then
overnight she just became this
entirely different person. She up
and left the Church, wrote this book,
and started teaching science.

Donnie takes the battered book... we see the cover.

INT. SCHOOL MAIN HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

Donnie stands before an array of old photographs. We zoom in
to a black-and-white photograph of a young Robert Sparrow
standing in a class photograph dated 1944.

Donnie looks down at the book, and then at the photograph.

DONNIE

Roberta Sparrow... Grandma Death.



INT. KITCHEN


NIGHT (FRIDAY, 6 P.M.)


44 .


Donnie sits down for dinner with his family.

DONNIE

It's called "The Philosophy of Time
Travel" .

ELIZABETH

What does time travel have to do
with philosophy?

DONNIE

Guess who wrote it?

No one seems to know.

DONNIE (CONT'D)

Grandma Death.

ROSE

That is a terrible nickname.

EDDIE

Grandma Death.

DONNIE
(to Eddie)

You know, Roberta Sparrow. We almost
hit her with the car the other day.

ROSE

I've heard she's loaded.

The family is taken aback.

EDDIE

You're right. Roberta Sparrow was
famous for her gem collections. Kids
used to try and steal stuff from her
all the time. Over the years... as
she got older, she became more and
more of a recluse. . . now she just
likes to stay up there all by herself.

DONNIE

I guess she just lost faith in the
world .

EXT. DARKO BACKYARD - SUNSET (SATURDAY, 5:30 P.M.)

Slow motion. Donnie and Gretchen jump up and down on the
trampoline, lost among falling autumn leaves.

INT. THERAPIST'S OFFICE - DAY (SUNDAY, 12 P.M.)

Donnie is back on Dr. Thurman's couch.



45 .


DR. THURMAN

How many times have you seen Frank?
DONNIE

Four times... so far.

DR. THURMAN
Can anyone else see him?

DONNIE

I don't think so. It's like a TV
station. And they're tuned into
mine and no one else's.

DR. THURMAN

Who is they? Is Frank part of some
larger group?

DONNIE

I don't know. Gretchen has a theory.
That Frank is a sign. I told her I
thought it was ridiculous .

DR. THURMAN
A sign from whom?

DONNIE

(changing the subject)

I think that Frank wants me to go to
this woman.

(holding up the book)

She wrote a book about time travel.
Frank asked me if I believed in time
travel. That can't just be a random
coincidence .

(beat )

My dad almost hit her with the car
the other day, and she said the
creepiest thing. She said that every
living creature on this earth dies
alone .


DR. THURMAN

How does that make you feel?

DONNIE

It reminded me of my dog Callie.

DR. THURMAN
Is Callie still around?

DONNIE

No. She died when I was eight. We
couldn't find her for days. She
went and crawled underneath our back
porch . . .



46 .


DR. THURMAN

Do you feel alone right now?

He looks at her for a moment.

DONNIE

I'd like to believe that I'm not...
but I've just never seen any proof.
So I just choose not to bother with
it. It's, like, I could spend my
whole life thinking about it...
debating it in my head. Weighing
the pros and cons. And in the end,

I still wouldn't have any proof. So
...I don't even debate it any more.
Because it's absurd.

(beat )

I don't want to be alone.

(beat )

So, does that make me, like, an
atheist ?


DR. THURMAN

No. That makes you keep searching.

Donnie takes this in for a moment.

INT. FAMILY ROOM - EVENING (SUNDAY, 7:15 P.M.)

Eddie and Dr. Fisher watch the Redskins game. Ronald and
Donnie watch the game in the family room.

EDDIE

Ahh. . . we need Theisman.

DR. FISHER
We need a miracle.

INT. KITCHEN - NEXT

Rose and Anne Fisher (forty-five) share a bottle of wine at
the kitchen table.


ANNE

And so, his tapes made me realise
that for forty-five years I have
been a a prisoner of fear. Rose, you
have to meet Jim Cunningham.

(taking a sip of wine)

I can't believe he's not married.

Samantha bounces through the kitchen and into the family
room, wearing a Dorothy outfit from "The Wizard of Oz".

INT. FAMILY ROOM - NEXT

Donnie sits back in the La-Z Boy, dozing off...



John Madden's CBS chalkboard unfolds on the TV screen. Madden
traces his electronic lines across the screen, tracing the
movement of the players... as their images are frozen in
time .

Donnie's eyes close... and then re-open.

Donnie turns his head and sees that the room is momentarily
bathed in artificial white light, as if God hit the slow-
motion button during a flash of lightning.

Donnie turns his head and sees that protruding from his
father's stomach... is a thick spear made of silvery plastic
gel .

As Eddie gets up from the couch to walk over to the
refrigerator ...his spear precedes him... morphing into an
extruded arrow that reaches the refrigerator several seconds
before him.

The spear traces the exact geography of his movement through
time... using his centre of gravity as its axis point.

Donnie turns and sees Samantha skipping from the kitchen...
as her spear bounces several feet in front of her like a
caterpillar .

Her spear... smaller than her father's... is proportional to
her mass.

SAMANTHA

(her voice echoing
through the silence)

Follow the yellow brick road. . .

Donnie looks down at his stomach and sees his own spear
protruding outward. It then begins to extrude forward towards
the foyer.

He does not follow it. It then retreats back in and beckons
him to follow.

Like a child transfixed by a firefly... Donnie follows the
path of his spear into the foyer.

INT. FOYER / UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NXT

Donnie and his spear round the corner and arrive in his
parents' bedroom.

INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT

His spear leads him to the closet. He opens the closet door...
and the spear leads him down to a box hidden beneath his
father's shoe rack.



Donnie removes the box from the closet and unlatches it.
Inside is a gun. Donnie removes the pistol from the box...
staring at it with the same childlike expression.

Suddenly... Donnie's universe snaps back to normal. The white
light strobes... the spear has vanished.

Donnie still holds the gun. His expression changes to nervous
shock .

His eyes linger over the gun for a moment, he then quickly
puts it back in the box... and carefully places the box back
under the shoe rack.

Title card:

OCTOBER 18 1988

EXT. BUS STOP - MORNING (TUESDAY, 7:30 A.M.)

The usual bus stop crew is there. Donnie arrives last... by
himself. He looks tired and preoccupied.

A plane flies overhead... they all look up at the sky.

INT. ENGLISH CLASS - MORNING (8:30 A.M.)

We see the students placing the Graham Greene books on Ms.
Pomeroy's desk.


MS. POMEROY

It gives me no pleasure to deny you
the right to read one of the great
writers of the twentieth century.

But... alas, I have not yet been
elected Queen of the Universe. And
until that day, I will be forced to
obey the rules... and so will you.

So... if anyone is found carrying
this book in school, they will be
suspended .

Donnie slips his book into his backpack.

MS. POMEROY (CONT'D)

But let's not worry. Someone has
already pre-ordered several dozen
copies at Sarasota Mall Waldenbooks .
now, in Mr. Greene's absence, we
will be reading another classic.

Richard Adams' "Watership Down".

She begins to hand out copies of the paperback novel. Beth
Farmer smiles when she sees the cover.

BETH

Awww. Bunnies.



49 .


MS. POMEROY
(whispering in his
ear)

Donnie, maybe you and Frank can read
this one together.

INT. SCHOOL BATHROOM - MIDDAY (11:30 A.M.)

Donnie walks along the edge of the school. Suddenly, a figure
approaches, grabbing him from behind, placing a switchblade
next to his throat. It is Seth Devlin.

SETH

Did you tell them that I flooded the
school?


DONNIE
I didn't say shit.

SETH

That's not what I heard. Now they
think I did it .

DONNIE

Well, if you're innocent, then you
have nothing to worry about .

SETH

You know what? I think that you did
it .

Seth takes the knife and pokes the tip softly into the flesh
of Donnie's neck, drawing a small amount of blood.

He pushes Donnie away. Donnie touches his neck in shock.

INT. PHYSICS CLASS - DAY (2:30 P.M.)

Donnie walks into the classroom and takes his seat next to
Gretchen. He is sweating profusely.

Dr. Monnitoff is handing out papers. The bell rings People
shuffle out.

DR. MONNITOFF

Don't forget tomorrow we'll be meeting
with our partners for the Young
Inventors Fair.

Donnie rubs his finger over his neck wound.

GRETCHEN

What happened to your neck?

DONNIE

I don't want to talk about it.

(MORE)



50 .


DONNIE (CONT'D)

(changing the subject)

So what happened to your neck?

EXT. GOLF COURSE FOREST - THAT AFTERNOON (3 P.M.)

Donnie and Gretchen walk around the trail.

GRETCHEN

Were you ever afraid of the dark?

They pull over to a stop.

DONNIE

Why?

She thinks for a moment .

GRETCHEN

Babies cry because they're afraid of
the dark. And because they have no
memories. . . for all they know. . .
every night could be the last forever.
Like, perpetual darkness.

DONNIE

Why not just buy your baby a night
light?


GRETCHEN

That's not good enough. You've got
to go back in time and take all those
hours of darkness and pain and replace
them. . . with whatever you wanted.

DONNIE

With, like, images?

GRETCHEN

Like... a Hawaiian sunset... the
Grand Canyon. Things that remind you
how beautiful the world can be.

Donnie stops and takes Gretchen 's hand.

DONNIE

You know... we've been going together
for a week and a half. . .

GRETCHEN

And what?

DONNIE

Well . . .

GRETCHEN

You want to kiss me...



Donnie goes in for an awkward kiss... but Gretchen turns and
denies him.

Donnie turns away, embarrassed.

DONNIE

That's alright... I understand.

GRETCHEN

(embarrassed)

No... Donnie, wait. I've never...

DONNIE

I always wanted it to be at a time
when . . .when it reminds you how
beautiful the world can be.

GRETCHEN

Yeah. And right now there's some fat
guy over there watching us.

A man in a red jogging suit is standing there in the forest
smoking a cigarette. He turns away... disappearing into the
woods .

EXT. NEIGHBOURHOOD STREET - LATER THAT AFTERNOON (4 P.M.)

Donnie rides along the sidewalk... and skids to a stop, seeing
a wallet lying there.

Donnie opens the wallet, looking at the ID. It reads:

JIM CUNNINGHAM
42 POWDERHAM DRIVE
MIDDLESEX, VA 23113


FRANK (V.O.)

(echoing in Donnie's
head)

Now you know where he lives.

Donnie looks over and sees that he is in front of Cunningham's
Tudor mansion.

INT. KITCHEN - EVENING (7:15 P.M.)

Donnie sits at the kitchen island with Elizabeth, carving a
pumpkin .


ELIZABETH

So I hear you have a girlfriend.
DONNIE

Yeah .

ELIZABETH
What's her name?



52 .


DONNIE

You're not gonna tell Mom, are you?

ELIZABETH

(defensive)

Why would I tell Mom?

DONNIE

Because you tell Mom everything.

ELIZABETH

No I don't.

(long beat)

She worries about you.

DONNIE

Well, don't worry... I'm taking my
medication .

ELIZABETH

It's not that. I mean mouthing off
to your teachers. I'll admit... when
Dad told me what you said to Ms .

Farmer, I laughed my ass off.

DONNIE

I was just being honest.

ELIZABETH

Yeah... well, that's not the way the
world works. If you keep being too
honest, the world will eventually
find a way to destroy you.

DONNIE

Her name is Gretchen.

ELIZABETH

That's a nice name.

(beat )

OK, let me see it .

Donnie turns the carved jack o' lantern around and we see
that it looks remarkably like Frank.

INT. THERAPIST'S OFFICE - NIGHT (8 P.M.)

Rose and Eddie sit in front of Dr. Thurman.

ROSE

Thank you for seeing us . . . We . . .
just felt that it was time to
discuss . . .


DR. THURMAN

What I think is going on with your
son .



53 .


ROSE

Well, you know about his past. And
when you said to look for signs of
aggression ...He was recently
suspended from school for insulting
his gym teacher.

EDDIE

She deserved it.

DR. THURMAN

Rose. . . let me just lay out what I
believe is happening here. Donnie's
aggressive behaviour seems to stem
from his increased detachment from
reality. His inability to cope with
the forces in the world that he
perceives to be threatening.

Rose smiles nervously.


DR. THURMAN (CONT'D)
Has your son ever told you about
Frank?


ROSE

Come again?

DR. THURMAN

Frank... the giant bunny rabbit?

ROSE

Frank?

DR. THURMAN

Donnie is experiencing what is
commonly called a daylight
hallucination .

ROSE

You're telling me my son has an
imaginary friend?

DR. THURMAN
He has described lengthy
conversations... physical encounters
with what I believe to be a
manifestation of his subconscious
mind .

Rose looks over at Eddie with an expression of panic.

ROSE

I. . . What can we do?



DR. THURMAN

I would like to put him through more
hypnotherapy... and increase his
medication .

Eddie looks at Rose . . . who nods in approval .

ROSE

If that's what you think is necessary.

DR. THURMAN

But let me remind you that this
treatment is... experimental.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Donnie walks into the kitchen and removes a butcher's knife
from a drawer.

INT. UPSTAIRS BATHROOM - NIGHT

Donnie stands in front of the bathroom mirror... catatonic...
looking at his reflection.

Frank stands behind him.

Suddenly, Donnie turns around with the butcher's knife and
lunges at Frank with all of his weight.

The knife collides with Frank's invisible force field as if
it were liquid steel. Donnie lunges repeatedly at Frank with
psychotic rage... but the knife bounces off.

Title card:

OCTOBER 20 1988

INT. SCHOOL AUDITORIUM - MORNING (10 A.M.)

The auditorium is packed with Middlesex mongrels. Jim
Cunningham takes the stage.

JIM CUNNINGHAM
(shouting)

Good morning, mongrels !

AUDIENCE

(scattered voices)

Good morning . . .

JIM CUNNINGHAM

That's all the gusta you can musta?

I said, "Good morning!"

AUDIENCE
(yelling louder)

Good MORNING!



JIM CUNNINGHAM

Now that's better... but I still
sense some students out there... who
are AFRAID . . . just to say GOOD
MORNING!

AUDIENCE

(screaming)

GOOD MORNING!

JIM CUNNINGHAM
Are you AFRAID?

AUDIENCE

(screaming louder)

GOOD MORNING!

JIM CUNNINGHAM

Now that's what I like to hear!

(suddenly serious)

Because too many young

Thank you.