Review: ‘A Scanner Darkly’ Trippy Film Cloaked in Cool Animation

“A Scanner Darkly” is a trippy film done in a cool style. The 2006 effort was written and directed by Richard Linklater. Based off a novel by Philip K. Dick, the story tells of a dystopian future in which invasive police have taken control amidst a drug epidemic.

It’s billed as a psychological science fiction thriller. What sets “A Scanner Darkly” apart is the filming itself. Linklater animated the production using interpolated rotoscope – a technique he has employed before. The result is a distinctive uncanny quality that I love.

There’s a cool cast.

Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, and Rory Cochrane are the stars. Each can be easily identified through the animation of their respective characters, and all are excellent with the various parts they are playing. For some reason, the emotions of the characters seem to be more unveiled despite the actors being cloaked in a cartoon style. It’s beholding to watch conversations and interactions for no other reason than the animation.

Bob Arctor (Reeves) is an undercover narc officer. Law enforcement in this society wear scramble suits, which constantly change and morph the appearance, making the wearer unrecognizable. Images of the suit are creepy, and your senses will overload trying to digest what you are watching.

Bob has taken his assignment to the extreme, himself becoming an addict. He shares a house with fellow junkies Barris (Downey Jr), Luckman (Harrelson), and Freck (Cochrane) the latter of which has used so much he’s experiencing constant paranoia and bizarre delusions. Donna Hawthorne (Ryder) plays a dealer being watched by the law.

It’s a tight story. The pacing is excellent at 100 minutes. I appreciate the artistic and entertaining way of telling a story. It’s eerie that the premise of government surveillance and invasive law enforcement being told before the introduction of AI. It’s been done before, but this one hits a different switch watching in 2023.

Confusing

“A Scanner Darkly” misses for me in its complexity. Linklater’s “Waking Life” which was animated in the same style, works because of the simplicity of the story its telling. Here, I was thoroughly confused.

Keanu Reeves is playing undercover agent Bob Arctor, who goes by the codename ‘Fred’ and is mysterious in a scramble suit, but we the viewer can see Reeves. He’s doing drugs but also not.  Winona Ryder’s character is a drug dealer? Love interest? I was lost.

The conversations between the addicts have Linklater’s traditional greatness, but the nature of the film divorces itself from simple dialogue.

I get the impression if I watched it a second time I may get more out of it, and I just might do that. For now, it’s an average movie brought up a degree by the style of the animation.

“A Scanner Darkly” is available to rent on Amazon.