... the two thugs/bullies attack him and the girl at knifepoint, and why does that rabbit then run the girl over with the car, and were those bullies planning to kill him and her, and why?
Was it just because they were mad at him for flooding the school and blaming it on them, was it just their vicious nature or what - what was the major conflict with them all about?
Thanks.
What you have to realize is that what we see is a fine web of manipulation going on. All orchestrated to push Donnie in a state of realization from where he can help Destiny to make the univers right again... I know, I sound freaky. I made this post to explain the movie better: https://moviechat.org/tt0246578/Donnie-Darko/58c768a46b51e905f6861c7d/Movie-EXPLAINED-without-any-outside-knowledge-and-it-fits-quite-well - I think this will explain it.
But the short answer is that these bullies act as they do because it is not only Donnie that is being manipulated.