Winner of the "mess with your head" category

Rating: 7/10 (23 December 2007)

Watching a teenager appear to descend into the madness of paranoid schizophrenia is not a pleasant thing to watch, but Jake Gyllenhaal is completely convincing and very sympathetic. I sympathized with him and his parents, who, like most people, are not equipped to accept or cope with this mental illness, much less help their son. I was involved enough in the story and characters to be angry with the psychiatrist, who should have had the parents commit the boy for in-patient psychiatric treatment about mid-way through the film. After Donnie vandalized his school and committed arson, I steeled myself for the inevitability that he would use his father's gun.
If the plot had played out to a conventional conclusion, it would have been merely notable. But the reason this film has achieved cult status is its deliberate attempt to mess with your head. After you've accepted the grim nature of the movie, the filmmakers throw in a crazy, pseudo-scientific twist at the end designed to make you say "What the hell?" and spend the next 30 minutes discussing it with your viewing buddy. I could tell you not to try to make sense of it, but you won't be able to help yourself.
If you decide to rent this movie, be sure to get the director's cut. There were 20 scenes deleted from the theatrical release, most of which needed to be put back in.