S. Darko (2009)

dir. Chris Fisher

The girl who plays Donnie’s younger sister Samantha in Donnie Darko reprises her role in S. Darko. She’s the only one who comes back. The rest of the cast and crew have vocally distanced themselves from this idiotic… sequel? Spin-off? Tribute? It’s very difficult to connect S. Darko to Donnie Darko in any way at all that doesn’t unfairly insult the latter. Donnie Darko was a masterpiece – it delved into its hero’s psyche, bent time and space, and was unabashed about exploring philosophy and morality and existence. On the other hand, S. Darko is a bit like someone tried to make a music video for Evanescence, and it got rejected because the silly frilly dresses and excessive black eyeliner and general moping around were just too much, even for Evanescence. You’d think it was a labour of love, essentially Donnie Darko fan fiction, but it’s hard to respect someone’s adoration of the source material when it seems as though they fundamentally didn’t even understand it. Samantha whispers about how her brother Donnie used to draw pictures of a creepy rabbit; anyone who watched Donnie Darko would get that this is impossible, as in the fundamental timeline of Donnie Darko, Donnie never saw said creepy rabbit. Get a clue, S. Darko.