Donnie Darko ending / spoiler
A divine dream occurrs in Donnie's head which tells him the future. This dream starts when Frank first calls Donnie outside and ends when Donnie is standing over the cliffside, watching the jet engine fall through the sky. In the last part of this special dream, Gretchen follows Donnie to a house. There, Gretchen is struck and killed by a car. It comes to a halt and out walks Frank himself! In anger, Donnie pulls out a gun (the same one he found in his parents' closet) and shoots Frank, killing him. We next see Donnie get into a car and drive out to a cliffside, where he observes a jet engine falling through the sky. This jet engine is the same one that would've killed him had Frank not called him outside earlier. We now see the events of the movie re-occurring in fast motion and backwards. The dream has ended, and Donnie wakes up in his bed. He realizes that he could leave his room and remain alive. However, this would result in Gretchen and Franks' deaths as Donnie is responsible for them. He also realizes that he could stay in his room and die, but in the process save them. Donnie decides to give up his life so that the others can live. None of the events that Donnie is responsible for in his dream actually take place in the real world.
Submitted by Jem
