Time Is Running Out to Stream One of the Most Iconic Sci-Fi Thrillers of the 2000s

The 2000s were an incredible time for movies, specifically sci-fi. The first decade of the new millennium saw a wide range of films that fell under the sci-fi umbrella but also pushed into very diverse sub-genre’s, giving audiences everything from more classic fare to sci-fi that moved into horror and thriller territory. Some of the movies from that time period really helped put some of today’s major movie stars on the map and are films that continue to have not just cultural resonance, but devoted fans as well — and time is running out for fans to stream one of them.

The 2001 sci-fi thriller Donnie Darko is set to leave Netflix on January 18th, but while it is often the case when a film departs one streaming platform, it pops up somewhere else, that does not currently appear to be the case for the film that not only features a packed cast of truly great talent, including Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze, but helped make Jake Gyllenhaal a star.

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Donnie Darko Is a Mind-Bending Classic That Still Has Viewers Guessing

Written and directed by Richard Kelly, Donnie Darko follows troubled teenager, Donnie (Gyllenhaal) who escapes dying in a freak accident by sleepwalking and seeing a figure clad in a weird rabbit costume that tells him his world is going to end in an oddly specific amount of time. During that time, Donnie begins to have strange hallucinations, hallucinations that influenced by Frank, the mysterious figure wearing the rabbit costume. An odd series of events unfold, including Donnie carrying out various actions all influenced by Frank that themselves have significant consequences. As the timeline Frank prophesied ticks down, things shift into an unexpected, mind-bending time travel twist that continues to leave audiences guessing what was real and what really happened — unless you’ve seen the director’s cut, which both explained and complicated the story at the same time.

Even with its very twisty story, Donnie Darko has become an iconic sci-fi film. It didn’t perform particularly well in theaters at the time of release, but it was well-received by critics who found the film to be intelligent and original. And indeed, the film is very much like anything that came before it with a big part of its uniqueness being owed to not just the story but Gyllenhaal’s performance as Donnie.  Gyllenhaal is brilliant as the troubled teen and delivers a haunting, almost unsettling performance. Even critics that perhaps didn’t appreciate the film’s unusual and confusing ending praised Gyllenhaal in the role. The film has since gone on to become a cult classic — and with the film departing streaming later this month (ironically around the 25th anniversary of its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival) time is running out to watch it.

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