October 2 – 30, 1988

The 28-day timeline

From Frank's warning to the collapse of the Tangent Universe is exactly 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. Every event of the film in order, marked by which universe it happens in. Dates without an on-screen reference are placed by inference and marked "approx."

28:06:42:12

Keep Frank’s time: the live countdown clock →

On this page
  1. Sunday, October 2, 1988
  2. Sunday, October 2, 1988
  3. Monday, October 3, 1988
  4. Tuesday, October 4, 1988
  5. Wednesday, October 5, 1988
  6. Thursday, October 6, 1988
  7. Friday, October 7, 1988
  8. Monday, October 10, 1988
  9. Tuesday, October 11, 1988
  10. Wednesday, October 12, 1988
  11. Thursday, October 13, 1988
  12. Friday, October 14, 1988
  13. Saturday, October 15, 1988
  14. Thursday, October 20, 1988
  15. Friday, October 21, 1988
  16. Wednesday, October 26, 1988
  17. Saturday, October 29, 1988
  18. Sunday, October 30, 1988
  19. Sunday, October 2, 1988
  20. Monday, October 3, 1988

  1. Sunday, October 2, 1988

    1. Dawn

      Donnie wakes on Carpathian Ridge

      The film opens with Donnie asleep on a mountain road at sunrise, his bicycle beside him. He laughs, and rides home through Middlesex. The opening title card reads "October 2, 1988".

      Donnie Darko Primary Universe

    2. Evening

      Dinner at the Darkos

      Elizabeth is voting for Dukakis; Donnie has stopped taking his medication. The argument ends with Donnie calling his sister a "fuck-ass". An ordinary evening in the Primary Universe - the last one.

      Donnie DarkoElizabeth DarkoRose DarkoEddie DarkoSamantha Darko

  2. Sunday, October 2, 1988 Tangent Universe begins

    1. Around midnight

      Frank: "28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds"

      A voice wakes Donnie and leads him, sleepwalking, to the golf course. Frank, in a rabbit costume, tells him when the world will end. The Tangent Universe has begun.

      Donnie DarkoFrank 28 Days, 6 Hours, 42 Minutes, 12 SecondsTangent UniverseManipulated Dead

    2. Night

      The jet engine falls into Donnie’s bedroom

      While Donnie sleeps on the golf course, a jet engine crashes through the roof of the Darko house into his empty room. The FAA cannot match it to any aircraft. It is the Artifact.

      Donnie DarkoRose DarkoEddie Darko ArtifactMetalTangent Vortex

  3. Monday, October 3, 1988

    1. Morning

      Donnie wakes on the golf course and comes home

      Two golfers find Donnie asleep on the green. He rides home to find the street full of emergency vehicles and the engine in his room. The family is moved to a hotel while the FAA investigate.

      Donnie Darko ArtifactLiving Receiver

    2. approx.

      Gretchen Ross arrives in Ms Pomeroy’s class

      The class is reading Graham Greene’s "The Destructors" when a new girl walks in from the rain. Ms Pomeroy tells her to sit "next to the boy you think is the cutest". She sits next to Donnie.

      Gretchen RossDonnie DarkoKaren Pomeroy The DestructorsManipulated Living

    3. approx.

      "Donnie Darko. Sounds like a superhero."

      Donnie walks Gretchen home. She tells him about her stepfather; he tells her about the engine. She won’t hold his hand yet.

      Donnie DarkoGretchen Ross

  4. Tuesday, October 4, 1988

    1. approx.

      Dr Thurman hears about Frank

      Under hypnosis Donnie describes his new "friend", Frank, and what Frank has told him. Dr Thurman raises the dose of his medication - which, she will later admit, is a placebo.

      Donnie DarkoDr Lilian Thurman Living Receiver

  5. Wednesday, October 5, 1988

    1. approx.

      The Fear-and-Love lifeline

      Kitty Farmer asks the class to place a scenario on Jim Cunningham’s lifeline between Fear and Love. Donnie refuses: "things aren’t that simple". He is sent to the principal.

      Kitty FarmerDonnie DarkoJim Cunningham Fear and LoveManipulated Living

  6. Thursday, October 6, 1988

    1. Night approx.

      Frank tells Donnie to flood the school

      Donnie sleepwalks again. That night he breaks a water main with an axe, buries the axe in the head of the school’s bronze Mongrel mascot, and writes "They made me do it" on the pavement.

      Donnie DarkoFrank WaterFourth Dimensional PowersThe Destructors

  7. Friday, October 7, 1988

    1. approx.

      School is cancelled; Donnie asks Gretchen out

      With the school flooded, Donnie and Gretchen spend the morning together. "Wanna go with me?" - "Go where?" She says yes. Kitty Farmer blames "The Destructors".

      Donnie DarkoGretchen RossKitty Farmer Manipulated Living

  8. Monday, October 10, 1988

    1. approx.

      "Every living creature on this earth dies alone."

      Eddie Darko nearly runs down Roberta Sparrow on the Old Gun Road. Later, at her mailbox, she whispers her only line of the film into Donnie’s ear.

      Roberta Sparrow ("Grandma Death")Donnie DarkoEddie Darko Living Receiver

  9. Tuesday, October 11, 1988

    1. approx.

      Monnitoff gives Donnie "The Philosophy of Time Travel"

      Donnie asks his physics teacher about time travel. Monnitoff explains wormholes, then hands him a book by the school’s former teacher, Roberta Sparrow - the woman the children call Grandma Death.

      Kenneth MonnitoffDonnie DarkoRoberta Sparrow ("Grandma Death") Time TravelTime Portal

  10. Wednesday, October 12, 1988

    1. Evening approx.

      Donnie sees the liquid spears

      At the dinner table Donnie watches translucent tendrils flow from his family’s chests, showing where each of them is about to go. He follows his own upstairs to his father’s closet - and the gun.

      Donnie DarkoEddie Darko Liquid SpearsGod's ChannelWaterMetal

  11. Thursday, October 13, 1988

    1. approx.

      "If God controls time, then all time is pre-decided."

      Donnie tells Monnitoff about the channels. Monnitoff stops him: "I could lose my job." Dr Thurman, in the same days, is told about the spears too.

      Donnie DarkoKenneth MonnitoffDr Lilian Thurman God's ChannelLiquid Spears

  12. Friday, October 14, 1988

    1. approx.

      Donnie confronts Jim Cunningham at the assembly

      Cunningham brings his Fear-and-Love show to the school gym. Donnie takes the microphone: "I think you’re the fucking Antichrist." Kitty Farmer wants him expelled.

      Donnie DarkoJim CunninghamKitty Farmer Fear and LoveManipulated Living

  13. Saturday, October 15, 1988

    1. Night approx.

      The Evil Dead at the Aero; Frank opens a portal

      Gretchen falls asleep in the cinema. Frank appears in the next seat and finally removes his mask: a bullet wound where his right eye should be. "Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?" He opens a watery portal over the screen and shows Donnie Jim Cunningham’s house.

      Donnie DarkoFrankGretchen Ross Time PortalWaterManipulated Dead

    2. Night approx.

      Donnie burns Jim Cunningham’s house

      While the film plays, Donnie rides to Cunningham’s house and sets it on fire. Firefighters find a hidden room full of child pornography. Cunningham is arrested.

      Donnie DarkoJim Cunningham Fourth Dimensional PowersEnsurance Trap

  14. Thursday, October 20, 1988

    1. approx.

      Kitty Farmer asks Rose to take Sparkle Motion to Los Angeles

      Kitty must stay in Middlesex to testify for Cunningham, so she asks Rose Darko to chaperone the girls to Star Search. Rose agrees. The plane the Artifact belongs to now has passengers.

      Kitty FarmerRose DarkoSamantha Darko Sparkle MotionManipulated LivingArtifact

  15. Friday, October 21, 1988

    1. approx.

      Ms Pomeroy is fired; "cellar door"

      Dismissed for teaching "The Destructors", Karen Pomeroy tells Donnie the most beautiful phrase in the English language. Cherita Chen performs at the talent show; Sparkle Motion wins.

      Karen PomeroyDonnie DarkoCherita ChenKitty Farmer Cellar DoorThe DestructorsSparkle Motion

  16. Wednesday, October 26, 1988

    1. approx.

      Dr Thurman: "They’re placebos."

      In his last session Donnie tells Thurman that Frank is going to kill, and asks whether he should be afraid of dying. She tells him his medication has never been real.

      Dr Lilian ThurmanDonnie Darko Living ReceiverManipulated Living

  17. Saturday, October 29, 1988

    1. Evening

      Halloween party: Elizabeth got into Harvard

      With Rose and Samantha in Los Angeles, Elizabeth throws a party. Donnie and Gretchen sleep together. Frank arrives in his rabbit costume. Donnie notices the time.

      Elizabeth DarkoDonnie DarkoGretchen RossFrank 28 Days, 6 Hours, 42 Minutes, 12 Seconds

  18. Sunday, October 30, 1988

    1. After midnight

      The cellar door: Gretchen is killed, Frank is shot

      Donnie, Gretchen and two friends ride to Roberta Sparrow’s house. Seth and Ricky, burgling it, attack them. Roberta stands in the road; Frank’s car swerves to miss her and hits Gretchen. Donnie shoots Frank through the right eye.

      Donnie DarkoGretchen RossFrankSeth Devlin & Ricky DanforthRoberta Sparrow ("Grandma Death") Ensurance TrapCellar DoorManipulated DeadMetal

    2. Before dawn

      The Vortex opens over Middlesex

      Donnie drives Gretchen’s body to Carpathian Ridge and watches a storm form over his house. The plane carrying Rose and Samantha home flies into it. Donnie tears the engine free and sends it back through the portal to October 2.

      Donnie DarkoRose DarkoSamantha Darko Tangent VortexBlack HoleArtifactFourth Dimensional PowersTime Portal

    3. 06:42:12

      The Tangent Universe collapses

      28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds after Frank’s warning. The Artifact has been returned; the Tangent Universe and everything in it is erased.

      28 Days, 6 Hours, 42 Minutes, 12 SecondsTangent UniverseOblivion

  19. Sunday, October 2, 1988 Primary Universe resumes

    1. Night

      October 2 again: Donnie stays in bed

      The Primary Universe resumes seconds before the engine falls. Donnie is awake, in bed, and laughing. This time he does not get up.

      Donnie Darko Primary UniverseLiving Receiver

  20. Monday, October 3, 1988

    1. Morning

      Dreams: the morning after

      Across Middlesex, the Manipulated wake with a memory they cannot place. Frank touches his eye. Gretchen cycles past the Darko house, learns a boy has died, and waves at Rose. Rose waves back.

      Gretchen RossRose DarkoFrankJim CunninghamKitty FarmerDr Lilian Thurman DreamsThe Manipulated

The whole month, including how it ends.