The main image is of a sinister looking rabbit conveying to the audience that the film is a psychological thriller. The image is created using pictures of the cast creating a fragmented effect; this also suggests the films genre. The main image doesn’t tell the audience much about the films storyline therefore creating a sense of mystery and interest. The poster consists of blue, grey, black and silver tones implying that the film could also have a sci-fi aspect to it. Overall, the poster does not give much away raising curiosity in audiences.

The concept of taglines in film posters is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone or premise of the film. Interestingly, there is no tag line suggesting that the film poster has been created to be purposely cryptic and wants the audience to watch the film with an open mind and no preconceptions of what to expect.

The typography used for the films poster reflects the psychological thriller genre. The title is simplistic in style and is central to the poster. Binary opposition between dark and light is created by the title as the name ‘Darko’ suggests darkness however, the typography creates the effect of light breaking through the letters. The title ‘Donnie Darko’ is very mysterious and only allows the audience to learn of the protagonist however, the name ‘Donnie Darko’ has connotations to darkness and mystery, once again reflecting the films genre.

The whole poster is very simplistic and cryptic, giving no clues as to the storyline of the film. The background is black allowing the foreground to stand out. The main cast is included in the image of the rabbit as well as their names appearing at the top of the poster. Stars such as Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze already have an established fan base allowing ‘Donnie Darko’ to attract a larger audience.