Six weeks after 9/11, Richard Kelly’s angsty, doomsday curiosity arrived in movie theatres, and audiences weren’t having it – especially not the plot kick-starter of a jet engine falling from the air into a 1980s suburban teen’s bedroom. Breaking free from his October Sky moppet era to begin his hero’s journey toward weird shit like Enemy and Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal anchors the film as Donnie, clinically depressed, seeing visions of a man-rabbit, and trying to avert the end of the world. Nope, audiences didn’t show up in 2001, but we’ve been obsessing over this cult classic ever since. – Kimberley Jones
