A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly (2006) is a feature-length film directed by Richard Linklater that is an adaptation of the book A Scanner Darkly written by Philip Dick. The film is Linklater's second attempt at an irregular form of animation known as rotoscoping. This form of animation allows the film to be shot in live-action and then to be repainted frame-by-frame with a computer program known as Rotoshop. The entire animation process of the film took fifteen months while the live-action filming only took six weeks.

Plot

Based in the year 2013, the United States loses the "war on drugs". Substance D, a drug that that is both extremely addictive and illegal has taken the nation by storm. The government responds by developing a system to stop the drug, mainly by sending undercover agents into the drug world. The film,set in Anaheim, California, follows Bob Arctor (Keaanu Reeves), an undercover agent whom is assigned to enter himself into the underground world of drug trafficking.

Bob attempts to penetrate the supply side for the drug as a means to help the government stop its widespread use. However, he and his roommates are heavy users of the drug which causes many of the conversations throughout the film to seem abnormal due to their being drug-induced. As the film progresses Bob's obvious inability to realize the difference between his job and his drug use causes him to become unable to work properly.