A Scanner Darkly
An undercover detective loses his grip on identity while infiltrating a drug network in a rotoscoped near-future dystopia.
Overview
In a world where reality blurs with paranoia, one man's identity is at stake.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- paranoid
- surreal
- darkly comic
- late night viewing
- cult film night
What critics said
Critics generally praised the faithful Philip K. Dick adaptation, hypnotic rotoscoped imagery, intelligence, and performances, while finding its deliberately muted drama and convoluted storyline uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film uses computer-assisted rotoscoping to make California's drug-addled near future feel tangible yet persistently unstable.
Undercover detective Bob Arctor monitors Substance D users while his own identity fragments under surveillance and testing.
New Path Corporation's recovery-center mission is intertwined with the investigation and the totalitarian social order.
The totalitarian setting is organized around undercover policing, brain-damaging Substance D, and institutional control.
Films like A Scanner Darkly, and why
Brazil
Shared paranoid dystopian science fiction, identity dissolution, and cerebral drug-induced unreality.
Waking Life
Shared rotoscoped animation, philosophical science fiction, and dreamlike questions about perception and reality.
Blade Runner
Shared near-future surveillance, noir investigation, and alienated protagonists confronting unstable identities.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Shared drug culture, countercultural paranoia, and psychologically disorienting descent into fractured reality.
Movie Details
- Director
- Richard Linklater
- Release Date
- 2006-07-07
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Rating
- 6.8 / 10 (2035)
Cast
- Keanu Reeves
- Robert Downey Jr.
- Woody Harrelson
- Winona Ryder
- Rory Cochrane
- Mitch Baker
- Sean Allen
- Cliff Haby
- Steven Chester Prince
- Natasha Valdez
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is A Scanner Darkly about?
- An undercover detective loses his grip on identity while infiltrating a drug network in a rotoscoped near-future dystopia.
- What is A Scanner Darkly like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of A Scanner Darkly as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is A Scanner Darkly violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in A Scanner Darkly as mild.
- What did critics think of A Scanner Darkly?
- Critics generally praised the faithful Philip K. Dick adaptation, hypnotic rotoscoped imagery, intelligence, and performances, while finding its deliberately muted drama and convoluted storyline uneven.
- Which films are like A Scanner Darkly?
- Films with a similar feel include Brazil, Waking Life, Blade Runner, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
- How long is A Scanner Darkly?
- A Scanner Darkly runs 100 minutes.
- Where can I watch A Scanner Darkly?
- In United States, A Scanner Darkly is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand.
