This movie doesn't really work, which is a pity, because it involves a lot of interesting ideas, put together in quite an eccentric and idiosyncratic way. Richard Kelly seems to pursue in his movies his private obsessions, which surely can go deeply wrong, but which nonetheless is the presupposition of anything interesting happening at all.
Some people have written that this film has nothing in common with "Donnie Darko": that's clearly wrong. At the center of both movies is the idea of meeting oneself as something threatening the foundations of reality, and how it has to be either avoided at the cost of personal sacrifice (Donnie Darko) or triggers the apocalyptic end of the world (Southland Tales). Of course, while "Donnie Darko" is the dark, introverted private tragedy of its main character, "Southland Tales" is set on a much larger scale, including many persons and society at large.
Richard Kelly is surely talented and has a weird sense of humor. (I loved the character of Krysta Now, the poet-porn star advocating "teen horniness" who "doesn't do anal" because it fosters violence in the world.) However, he still needs to work on his writing and directing abilities to achieve something truly great in the future.
One recommendation: Read the graphic novel too, preferably at first -- it's not a "prequel" in the strict sense, but the first part of the story itself, and it adds an additional layer to it by exposing the contents of Santaros' and Now's movie script "The Power".
Some people have written that this film has nothing in common with "Donnie Darko": that's clearly wrong. At the center of both movies is the idea of meeting oneself as something threatening the foundations of reality, and how it has to be either avoided at the cost of personal sacrifice (Donnie Darko) or triggers the apocalyptic end of the world (Southland Tales). Of course, while "Donnie Darko" is the dark, introverted private tragedy of its main character, "Southland Tales" is set on a much larger scale, including many persons and society at large.
Richard Kelly is surely talented and has a weird sense of humor. (I loved the character of Krysta Now, the poet-porn star advocating "teen horniness" who "doesn't do anal" because it fosters violence in the world.) However, he still needs to work on his writing and directing abilities to achieve something truly great in the future.
One recommendation: Read the graphic novel too, preferably at first -- it's not a "prequel" in the strict sense, but the first part of the story itself, and it adds an additional layer to it by exposing the contents of Santaros' and Now's movie script "The Power".