Movies similar to Donnie Darko, Butterfly Effect, or Fetching Cody

S P O I L E R S - thread strictly for those who've seen all three movies
Seems like nobody’s really touched on this yet, though they probably should.
Three pretty similar films, basically the same plots, same themes, same vibes.
It’s always the same formula, I guess—some guy with supernatural powers, whether he was born with them or picked them up, goes to save his girl. Every movie has its own little spin and charm, sure, but still... I don't really get why we need three versions of the exact same story. I doubt it's just about the money.
Curious what you guys think.

I haven't seen the third one, so I can't really weigh in on that, but as far as the first two go, I don't think they have anything in common. Sure, if you look at them "broadly," the plot is similar. It's some kind of time travel thing where people try to "save everyone," and that's about it. There aren't any other similarities. I mean, Donnie Darko is way more complex—it’s just loaded with symbolism, mysticism, hidden meanings, paradoxes, and all those crazy theories. Not to mention, Donnie's whole "mission" was basically saving the entire freaking world, whereas the guy in Butterfly Effect was just trying to save his girlfriend. Butterfly Effect is actually pretty straightforward; it doesn't go "that deep" since it's really just about saving the girl. But Donnie Darko touches on a million different themes and the whole movie is basically one big, massive detail! I'm not hating on the movie—I actually love it and the theme is awesome—but you just can't compare it to Donnie Darko because they aren't even alike. The only tiny similarity you mentioned in your post was the "broad" plot. And honestly, why wouldn't you make two different movies that seem similar on the surface but couldn't possibly be more different? 😉

Donnie Darko didn't really do it for me, but Butterfly Effect is easily one of the best—brilliantly executed, though I don't think they're actually tackling the same concept.
It feels like there are only about ten core themes in existence, and everything else is just some variation on them...

Michelle Lewis95 said:Donnie Darko didn't really do it for me, but Butterfly Effect is easily one of my favorites—super clever execution, even if they aren't tackling the exact same concept.
If you look at it, there are basically ten core themes out there, and every movie ever made is just some variation on those same ideas.

I'm just gonna use some reverse psychology here, layman's terms.
Basically, I'm swapping the titles.🙂
And yeah, when I say "favorite," I'm definitely exaggerating.

Michelle Lewis95 said:If you look at it that way, there are basically ten core plots, and every single movie ever made is just some variation of them!

You nailed it 😉 I mean, seriously, there are a million of those crappy American teen rom-coms out there, and every single one follows the exact same formula. Guy meets girl, guy falls for girl, guy wins girl over, they have a huge blowout, then guy GETS GIRL! Or it’s the other way around. It's always the same. So the question is, what's even the point of making THOUSANDS of these movies if they're all identical? Aside from the money, obviously. 🤣

I haven't seen the third one yet, but I’m totally with northernangler17 regarding the first two. The themes feel similar, but the actual plots are worlds apart 😕
I absolutely loved both of them!
The Butterfly Effect is way more straightforward—you don't have to watch it a dozen times just to follow what's happening. It's just better paced. Donnie Darko is definitely a much deeper rabbit hole to fall down.

Donnie Darko is fundamentally different from the Butterfly Effect—you really could have brought up something like Run Lola Run instead...

Let's find something actually worth watching instead of all that mindless garbage.

Samuel Ortiz3 said:Let's watch something actually smart instead of this total garbage.

Look, nobody's forcing you to watch this "garbage," so maybe don't tell the rest of us what we "should" or "shouldn't" be watching.😉 😬

northernangler17 said:Look, nobody’s actually forcing you to watch this "nonsense"—so maybe just skip the lecture on what we "should" or "shouldn't" be wasting our time on. 😉 😬

ljutibabo

Grumpy? No way. Can't you see the smileys at the end of my sentence? 😁 😬

northernangler17 said:Mean? Not at all. I mean, can't you see the smiley faces at the end of my sentence? 😁 😬

Well, fine then. 🙂 You want to go toe-to-toe with me? 😛

Aaron Vaughn said:S P O I L E R - this thread is strictly for those who have seen all three movies
It feels like nobody has touched on this yet, but they really should...
Three incredibly similar films, with similar plots, themes, and settings.
The pattern everywhere is the same: a guy with supernatural abilities—whether born with them or having gained them—saves his girl. Sure, each has its own style and charm, but still... I don't see the point of making three identical movies. I doubt it was just about the money...
I'm curious to hear what you all think.

If the whole point of Donnie Darko is saving the girl, then Steven Spielberg would be the one directing it... 🙂 Not sure about the others. Haven't seen them, unfortunately...

I didn't really get the impression that Donnie actually has superpowers. Maybe I need to watch it a fourth time (that soundtrack is incredible though)... 🙂 Donnie is just an unstable teenager doing "weird" things that highlight hypocrisy and the flaws in the adult world. Patrick Swayze basically played a total creep here—tell a girl to watch Dirty Dancing after she finishes Donnie Darko...

The one who actually deserves the powers is Frank...

Frank wears a rabbit mask, and in old folklore, evil spirits are often depicted as wild horses or giant rabbits (if anyone remembers the movie James Stewart : Harvey). From that perspective, Frank would be the Pooka. Perhaps the most famous Pooka is Puck from A Midsummer Night's Dream—he loves messing with people's lives. Because of how the rabbit element is woven into Frank's story, I see him as the true supernatural catalyst. Donnie is just the protagonist, but the one pulling the strings is Frank... the guy who kills Girl Interrupted...

So you think Donnie doesn't have superpowers? He's practically overflowing with them! 😉 HE'S the one with the ability to bend time, like sending objects through space and time 😉

Just rewatch the movie and think about it—the axe getting stuck in that BRONZE STATUE (that's strength right there), then the water manipulation (remember when he finds that creep's wallet and all those garden sprinklers just... quit?), then the metal manipulation (literally sending that engine through a wormhole), etc., etc.
He's the living receiver, which means he definitely HAS powers 😉

Take a closer look at this and draw some parallels 😉

http://ruinedeye.com/cd/time1.htm

Donnie Darko was one of those movies that just left me completely floored😲
I actually managed to track down a DVD copy recently—can't believe I didn't have it sooner—so I’ll definitely be giving it another spin over the next few days...

The first two movies don't really have anything to do with each other, and I haven't even gotten around to watching the third one yet...☕

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northernangler17 says: Donnie doesn't actually have superpowers. He's just surrounded by them. 😉 HE is the one with the ability to manipulate time by sending an object through space and time... 😉 Take a closer look at this and draw some parallels... 😉 http://ruinedeye.com/cd/time1.htm

Man. I honestly prefer it when things stay mysterious. I'd rather have open questions than someone trying to explain the "philosophy" of time travel or how the world ends using a few pages from some made-up book.
So lame...

IMHO, explaining everything just makes the movie less interesting. OTOH, the soundtrack is killer. 🙂

The jet fuel guys are great characters, and Frank definitely represents the jet fuel...

Of course there are going to be unanswered questions. 😉 You can basically view the whole movie as an allegory—honestly, you could interpret absolutely EVERYTHING in a million different ways if you wanted to! 😉

This is just Richard's (the director) take on things, which means it's just ONE PERSPECTIVE. After all, he's the one who came up with those "imaginary pages" you're talking about 😉 and even brought them up in his audio commentary 😁

northernangler17 said:Of course there are always open questions... 😉 You can view the whole movie as an allegory. Honestly, you can interpret absolutely EVERYTHING in a million different ways! 😉

This is just the director's perspective—or rather, ONE OF them. He’s the one who came up with those "imaginary pages" you mentioned, 😉 and he actually brought it up in his audio commentary 😁

True, but it’s still a bit disappointing when the author explains their own work using that famous book. It feels a little cheap to me. I prefer the mystery. ;-)

I watched a documentary about Bob Dylan a few weeks ago. It reminded me of that legendary interview where everyone keeps grilling him about what his lyrics mean or what he stands for, and the guy just wrote songs and music... nothing more.

Look, I get where you're coming from 😉

I don't know why you're even getting worked up about this. There's a ton of mysticism baked in. Even Jake mentioned he doesn't really "get" his own movie—like, when people corner him on the street asking "what is Donnie Darko actually about?", he just shrugs and says, "I have no clue. What is it to YOU?" Richard has that same vibe, except he tries to play the sci-fi expert by explaining it through a book, but he just crammed in a massive amount of mystical nonsense and layers upon layers of subtext. You can treat the movie as one giant allegory, you can take it literally, or you can just keep digging forever 😁 Personally, I think reading all those crazy theories and hunting for symbolism is the best part. To me, the whole point of the film IS personal interpretation, and the only question remains:

what's Donnie Darko TO YOU?

😉