American Cinematheque
The Aero Theatre
Montana Avenue, Santa Monica
The Santa Monica cinema whose marquee is in the film. Its official page links to what is now showing. Pictured: Montana Avenue, 2023.
See what is onMiddlesex, Virginia, October 1988 · shot in 28 days, 2000
Donnie Darko
The first scene shot was the first scene of the film: Donnie waking on a road at sunrise. The road is Angeles Crest Highway, above Los Angeles, not Virginia.
Sources
Tear the day
Twenty-eight days, seven places
Wikipedia says the shoot lasted 28 days, as many as the film’s events. Here is a pad of the same length. Each tear shows one place. The order is ours, except the road: it was shot first.
Sources
0 of 7 pages torn · 28 days left on the pad
28
Days left. Tear the first page.
The pad is full. Tear the first day.
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Los Angeles
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Compare toursNot Virginia
Set in Middlesex, shot in Los Angeles
movie-locations.com says the film is set in the fictional Middlesex, Virginia and was filmed entirely around Los Angeles. LB908 says the Long Beach street was chosen for its suburban character.
Sources
In the filmMiddlesex High School
On the groundLoyola High School, 1901 Venice Boulevard, Pico-Union, Los Angeles
Sources
In the filmThe golf course
On the groundVirginia Country Club, 4602 North Virginia Road, Long Beach
Sources
In the filmDonnie’s home
On the groundThe Darko family home, Country Club Drive, Bixby Knolls, Long Beach
Sources
The end of the pad
Go and find Middlesex
The highway, the Aero, Loyola’s frontage and the Long Beach street corner are public. The club is private. Two houses on Country Club Drive are family homes, named by their street only and not pinned; please leave the residents in peace.
Sources
Where it is now
5 places you can visit around Los Angeles and Long Beach, plus two private homes named by their street.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Area reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public mountain highway. The photograph is a stretch west of Red Box Saddle, not the exact bend. Pull over only where signed.
Site reference · Restricted access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working school. The Venice Boulevard frontage is public; the grounds are not open to visitors.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working cinema on Montana Avenue. The front is on the street; inside with a ticket to a screening.
Angeles Crest Highway winding through a valley west of Red Box Saddle, 2019. Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Los Angeles and Santa Monica · Angeles Crest Highway (State Route 2), San Gabriel Mountains
Angeles Crest Highway
Wikipedia says the opening scene, where Donnie wakes up, was the first shot of the production, at sunrise on the Angeles Crest Highway.
A public mountain highway. The photograph is a stretch west of Red Box Saddle, not the exact bend. Pull over only where signed.
Sources
Loyola High School on Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, 2008. Ucla90024 · CC BY-SA 3.0 Los Angeles and Santa Monica · 1901 Venice Boulevard, Pico-Union, Los Angeles
Loyola High School
Wikipedia says the school scenes were shot at Loyola High School.
A working school. The Venice Boulevard frontage is public; the grounds are not open to visitors.
Sources
The Aero Theatre on Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, April 2023. Jengod · CC BY-SA 4.0 Los Angeles and Santa Monica · 1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica
Aero Theatre
Wikipedia says the theatre marquee was shot at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica.
A working cinema on Montana Avenue. The front is on the street; inside with a ticket to a screening.
Sources
Stay
A base in Long Beach.
A waterfront hotel a short drive from the street and the club.
The Maya Long Beach
The Maya Long Beach
Queensway Bay, Long Beach
A 191-room waterfront hotel at 700 Queensway Drive, a base in Long Beach a short drive from Bixby Knolls and the golf club. Pictured: a Long Beach golf clubhouse, not the hotel.
Check roomsGo there
See where it was shot.
A Santa Monica cinema and film location tours of Los Angeles.
American Cinematheque
The Aero Theatre
Montana Avenue, Santa Monica
The Santa Monica cinema whose marquee is in the film. Its official page links to what is now showing. Pictured: Montana Avenue, 2023.
See what is onViator · Ad / affiliate
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Los Angeles
Live marketplace results for film location tours of Los Angeles. Check which routes pass Venice Boulevard or Santa Monica.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
No dates yet.
Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The archive
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
7 of 7 places · 7 of 7 stories
Angeles Crest Highway
Angeles Crest Highway (State Route 2), San Gabriel Mountains
Waking on the road
The first scene shot: Donnie wakes at sunrise on the Angeles Crest Highway, standing in for a Virginia road.
Virginia Country Club
4602 North Virginia Road, Long Beach
Waking on the course
Donnie wakes on the golf course after his night with Frank.
The bus stop
Country Club Drive and San Antonio Drive, Long Beach
Gretchen at the corner
Gretchen first appears at a bus stop on the corner of Country Club and San Antonio drives.
The Darko family home
Country Club Drive, Bixby Knolls, Long Beach
One street, two houses
Donnie’s home and the Cunninghams’ stand on the same Long Beach street, chosen for its suburban look.
Jim Cunningham’s house
Country Club Drive, Bixby Knolls, Long Beach
The Cunningham house
Frank the rabbit tells Donnie to burn down the mock-Tudor house on the same street.
Loyola High School
1901 Venice Boulevard, Pico-Union, Los Angeles
Middlesex High
A Los Angeles school plays the film’s Virginia high school.
Aero Theatre
1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica
The marquee
Only the Santa Monica cinema’s marquee was shot for the date at the movies.
