Donnie Darko

Donnie Darko follows a teenager who escapes a bizarre accident because he has wandered out in his sleep. Then Frank appears in a rabbit costume and tells Donnie the world has 28 days left. That is quite a lot to deal with before anyone has found the kettle. I will leave the set-up there. It gives you plenty to think about without my opening any more doors.

The frightening thought for me is not simply the rabbit costume, although I would not welcome it at the front door. It is the uncertainty of being told something enormous and impossible to check. What do you do with a warning like that? I would put this at unsettling rather than properly terrifying. The fear sits in the question Frank leaves Donnie with, which is much harder to set aside than a noise in the next room.

If you like horror with a mystery and a science fiction idea tangled through it, this is one for a quiet night when you can pay attention. I would keep the conversation until afterwards, partly because people talking through films are a menace, and partly because the premise gives you a good question to bring to the sofa: what would you believe if the strangest person you had met told you time was running out?