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About This Quiz
Rising stars, veteran actors, great music and an ambiguous ending -- "Donnie Darko" had it all. Forget about deciding what it all meant; instead, test your recall of this 2001 movie with our quiz!
"Darko" is Donnie's ______.
nickname at school
evil twin
last name
Donnie's new girlfriend comments that it sounds like "a superhero name." Donnie's response is "How do you know I'm not?"
self-applied "superhero" name
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Who played Elizabeth, Donnie's older sister?
Drew Barrymore
Maggie Gyllenhaal
The Gyllenhaals acted opposite each other -- playing younger brother and older sister -- in "Donnie Darko." The Gyllenhaals are a Hollywood family. Their father is a director, and their mother is a screenwriter.
Blake Lively
Sarah Michelle Gellar
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The creepy rabbit who appears to Donnie is named what?
Abel
Cain
Frank
The appearance of a giant rabbit in Donnie's room might remind some people of "Harvey." But "Frank" is nowhere near as cute -- frankly, he's disturbing-looking.
Joey
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According to Frank, in how many days is the world going to end?
7
28
Frank is very specific: 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. Donnie wakes up to find the numbers written on his arm, in a wobbly handwriting unlike his own.
88
100
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What happens the night Donnie follows Frank outside?
he sees a time-tunnel opening
he witnesses a car accident
his house catches fire
a jet engine falls through the roof of his bedroom
By leading Donnie outside, Frank the rabbit saves his life. The jet engine landed directly on Donnie's bed.
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Karen Pomeroy, played by Drew Barrymore, teaches what subject?
Algebra
English
Karen Pomeroy was played by Drew Barrymore. Barrymore championed the quirky script, and her production company, Flower Films, produced it.
History
Science
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Who does Ms. Pomeroy suggest new student Gretchen sit next to in English class?
the boy she thinks is cutest
Honestly, this puts a lot of pressure on Gretchen -- the entire class is watching to see who she'll choose. But Gretchen handles it with aplomb and chooses to sit next to Donnie.
anyone who's taken good notes
Donnie
no one in particular, just anywhere there's an empty seat
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What short story is Donnie's English class reading?
A Rose For Emily
The Destructors
This Graham Greene story is about young people who destroy an old house and burn the money they find inside. Donnie says the story shows destruction to be an act of creation, but teaching it gets Ms. Pomeroy in trouble.
The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber
The Least Trumps
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What nickname have kids given Roberta Sparrow?
the Governess
Grandma Death
It's not clear what exactly inspired the nickname. But her raddled white hair, gauntness, and senility do make her look like a harbinger of death.
the Jaywalker
Miss Havisham
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What does Roberta Sparrow wait for every day?
her son to visit
her neighbors to walk their dog past her house
the mail to arrive
"Grandma Death" spend lots of time outside, and frequently looks inside her empty mailbox. However, given her theories about quantum physics, we can't swear she isn't waiting on the end of the world as well.
the end of the world
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What Middlesex Ridge School's mascot?
the Badger
the Bull
the Mongrel
Early on, we see the words "Go Mongrels" written in dust on a school bus door. Later, while acting under Frank's direction, Donnie embeds an ax in a statue of the Mongrel. This is important because it shouldn't have been physically possible -- leading to fan theories that Donnie has superhuman strength that will help him fulfill his destiny.
the Wildcat
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What trauma is Gretchen living with?
her parents died in a car crash
her stepfather molested her
her father stabbed her mother
Gretchen opens up about her troubled history to Donnie, who is sympathetic. The school's bullies aren't as kind, harassing her about it during a science class.
a whole plane crashed into her house
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How does Donnie ask Gretchen to be his girlfriend?
he asks her to Homecoming
he asks her to go out Saturday night
he gives her his class ring
he asks her to "go with" him
At first, Gretchen doesn't understand the low-key term. Donnie explains that he's asking her to be his girlfriend: "That's how we say it, here," he explains, sheepishly.
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What is the name of Samantha Darko's dance troupe?
the Dee-Lites
the Janes
the B-Sharps
Sparkle Motion
This is a very 80s kind of name -- which is appropriate, given that the movie is set in 1988. Or maybe it's evergreen: Little girls are never going to stop liking things that sparkle.
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In what field does Jim Cunningham work?
archery coaching
inspirational speaking
Everyone in Donnie's town (all the adults, at least) are enthralled with Jim Cunningham's message, which is about all human behavior falling on a spectrum between fear and love. Donnie finds this oversimplified and stupid.
psychotherapy
auto mechanics
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What therapeutic technique does Dr. Thurman try with Donnie?
rapid-eye movement therapy
hypnotherapy
Donnie is already taking medication for his mental problems. But Dr. Thurman tries hypnosis as well, during which Donnie opens up about his sexuality and about his encounters with Frank.
past-life regression
role play
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Uptight gym teacher Mrs. Farmer also serves in what role?
the coach of Sparkle Motion
Kitty Farmer's daughter is in Sparkle Motion. Nonetheless, she makes Samantha Darko the lead dancer in their talent-show routine -- about which Kitty will pointedly remind Rose Darko.
the swim and diving team coach
the school counselor
the lunch lady
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Donnie finds a wallet on a residential street. Why is this significant?
it's Jim Cunningham's wallet
it's the wallet of someone named "Frank"
Donnie read an anecdote involving a lost wallet in the "fear-love" exercise
both #1 and #3
When Donnie finds Jim's wallet in the street, Frank's disembodied voice whispers, "Now you know where he lives." Well, true -- but how does Frank know? Couldn't Jim's wallet just have fallen out of his fanny pack at random while he was jogging?
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What did Roberta Sparrow/Grandma Death do earlier in life?
she was a model
she was a nun
she wrote a book
both #2 and #3
Roberta Sparrow taught at Donnie's Catholic School before leaving to write about her theories of time travel. Maybe we're shallow, but if we had a name as cool as "Sister Sparrow," we wouldn't change jobs -- no matter what we believed about quantum physics.
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What movie do Donnie and Gretchen go see?
The Evil Dead
Actually, Gretchen sleeps through the movie, and Donnie spends it first talking to Frank, then leaving the theater to carry out a mission for Frank. So much for respecting a cult classic!
Friday the 13th
Halloween
The Sound of Music
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When Donnie asks Frank, "Why do you wear that stupid rabbit suit?" what does Frank say?
"You're not ready to see my real form."
"People see what they want to see."
"Why do you wear that stupid man suit?"
Nonetheless, Frank does remove his rabbit mask. Underneath, he is a handsome young man, but he's missing an eye.
"What rabbit suit?"
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To whose house does Donnie set fire?
Jim Cunningham's
This is the payoff to Donnie learning where Jim lives. He slips out during "The Evil Dead" and torches the inspirational speaker's house, leading to a bizarre discovery.
Gretchen's father's
Kitty Farmer's
his own
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What do firefighters find in Jim Cunningham's house?
a child porn dungeon
That's actually how the script puts it, more than once: "a child porn dungeon." But why is pornography kept in a dungeon? Did Jim chain up the books and pictures?
a body
a library of rare and banned books
stolen money
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What does Donnie see protruding from his own and others' chests?
their hearts
rabbit faces
shafts of arrows
silver trails predicting their future motion
The movie's director, Richard Kelly, said he got the idea from watching John Madden use a telestrator, on which Madden drew players' future movements on a TV screen. The trails also resemble the "silver cord" that sometimes comes up in New Age beliefs, like about astral projection.
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Where does Donnie's silver trail lead him?
to Gretchen
to Frank
to a gun in his parents' closet
Yes, Donnie's parents keep a gun in their bedroom. As Chekhov said about guns, they have to go off by the third act.
to Roberta Sparrow's book
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What opportunity do the girls of Sparkle Motion get?
to be on the lead 4th of July float
to go on "Star Search"
"Star Search" was a televised talent show hosted by Ed McMahon back in the 1980s. It might seem cheesy now, but it was the forerunner of today's "The Voice" and "So You Think You Can Dance."
to dance for the mayor
to go to ballet camp in New York
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What does Ms. Pomeroy say is the most beautiful combination of words in the English language?
cellar door
Ms. Pomeroy is slightly misquoting the "famous linguist" she cites. JRR Tolkien (who was a linguist as well as a novelist) just said that divorced from its meaning, the combination "cellar door" is lovely.
ipso facto
reservation road
free lunch
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Why do Donnie and Elizabeth throw a Halloween party?
to make Donnie more popular
because Elizabeth got into Harvard
Elizabeth's college application comes up early in the film. She doesn't find out she was accepted until close to the end. Because both their parents are away, they decide to celebrate.
so Donnie can get to know Gretchen better
just because it's Halloween
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In the end, why is Frank wearing the rabbit costume?
he was robbing someone in disguise
it's his Halloween costume
Frank was at the Halloween party that Donnie and Elizabeth hosted. In fact, Frank is Elizabeth's boyfriend -- a connection that isn't obvious in the shorter theatrical cut of the film. It's hinted at when Elizabeth asks someone at the party, "Where's Frank?" and is told he went to get beer.
he's trying out for Little Theater
this is never made clear
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What kind of car does Frank drive?
a vintage pickup truck
a minivan
a red Trans Am
It's the red Trans Am that runs over Gretchen at Roberta Sparrow's house. Grief and rage cause Donnie to shoot Frank, fulfilling the prophecy: Frank's world does, indeed, end in 28 days.
we never learn this
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What song plays during the "restored reality" montage near the end?
Land of Confusion
Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams
Mad World
This haunting song plays while we see what the movie's important characters are doing during the night Donnie is killed. Dr. Monitoff and Karen Pomeroy are in bed together, Jim Cunningham weeps alone in his house, and Frank -- Elizabeth's boyfriend, to those in the know -- sits among sketches of the creepy rabbit, touching his right eye in a troubled way.
Song to the Siren
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Who bikes past Donnie's house the morning that he is killed?
Frank
Gretchen
When time rewinds, Donnie is killed by the jet engine that falls through his bedroom ceiling. Gretchen, who never met him in this version of events, bikes past and asks a bystander what just happened. Then she waves at Mrs. Darko, who waves back, and on this note, the movie ends.
Ricky
Seth
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For whom does the man in the red track suit work?
the CIA
the FAA
You can be forgiven for thinking this remained a mystery -- the clues were subtle. But you can see red-track-suit-man -- wearing normal clothes -- among the FAA guys in both "morning-after" scenes dealing with the jet engine. He's clearly an agent.
Frank
this is never made clear
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Which of the following faculty members has a Ph.D?
Kitty Farmer
Karen Pomeroy
Kenneth Monitoff
Dr. Kenneth Monitoff was played by Noah Wyle, of "ER" fame. Dr. Monitoff discusses time travel and physics with Donnie, and alerts him to the importance of Roberta Sparrow's book.
none of them
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Mary McDonnell, who played Donnie's mother, would go on to acclaim in what sci-fi series?
Battlestar Galactica
McDonnell played Laura Roslin, the civilian leader of the refugee human race, in the "Battlestar Galactica" remake. Hard-headed President Roslin probably would have put the sullen and disrespectful Donnie out an airlock.
Flash Forward
The 4400
Orphan Black
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Daveigh Chase, who played Donnie's younger sister Samantha, would soon terrify filmgoers in what movie?
The Good Son
Insidious
Orphan
The Ring
Daveigh Chase played Samara, the little girl with the long black hair, in the J-horror remake. She also voiced Lilo in "Lilo and Stitch."
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You Got:
/36
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