Donnie Darko was filmed in 28 days which, by coincidence, virtually matches the time that transpires in the film from October 2, 1988, to the Friday or Saturday weekend party before Halloween on Monday, October 31, 1988 [REF].
Some scenes were shot in Bixby Knolls Virginia Country Club, in Long Beach, California, with many of the school sequences shot at Loyola High School.