‎A Scanner Darkly (2006) directed by Richard Linklater • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

A Scanner Darkly

2006 Directed by Richard Linklater

Everything Is Not Going To Be OK

An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.

Keanu Reeves Winona Ryder Woody Harrelson Robert Downey Jr. Mitch Baker Steven Chester Prince Natasha Valdez Angela Rawna Chamblee Ferguson Melody Chase Rory Cochrane Turk Pipkin Dameon Clarke Jason Douglas Marco Perella Alex Jones

100 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★½ 13

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Film #15 of the February Movie Challenge : Keanu Reeves or Bust!
letterboxd.com/naughty/list/february-movie-challenge-keanu-reeves-or/
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According to a quote from Asher's Review Anyone whom didn't like or can't appreciate this film are nothing but a bunch of shape shifting albino lizard bitches!

So I'm here to confess I AM nothing but a shape shifting albino lizard bitch! And shape shifting albino lizard bitches cannot live on style alone! We need things like flies, insects, grubs and other things of substance like CONTENT! Which in my opinion there was very little of as the film progressed!

It is amusing, dark and trippy! It simply didn't ring my chimes!
Review by DirkH ★★★½

Film #10 of 'It's June Jim, but not as we know it.'

A Scanner Darkly is perhaps the most faithful Philip K. Dick adaptation I've ever seen. It is my favourite novel of his, a mind bending, deeply emotional and autobiographical Science Fiction novel and I guess that's why I never bothered with this adaptation. I truly respect Linklater's attempts to stay as close to the original even though he unfortunately favours form over content.

Linklater's rotoscopic technique is a bit of a double edged sword for me here. I loved how the animation made me share in how all the druggies in the film view the world. It is a kaleidoscopic experience, sometimes with a surreal world, sometimes with…
Review by Marna Larsen ★★★

I'm a terrible person but a lot of this felt like Linklater's 90s rambling thing 10 years after it stopped being cute ALSO after five years of being forced to sit thru entire credit sequences for more RDJ being RDJ haven't I given him enough of my life...? Where does it end?

The book was cool tho.

And on second thought, I DO feel the level of empathy of the book was matched by this adaptation. Just the stoner 90s bullshit philosophizing didn't really live up to what I found humorous about the book. But keep in mind this is coming from the squarest person alive, I'm sure Linklater probably 'got' the book more than I did.
Review by alphonse ★★★★

Five years after his first animated film, Waking Life, Richard Linklater decided to take the rotoscoping technique to another level with an adaptation of one of Philip K. Dick's most acclaimed literary pieces. Once again the way the American director takes advantage of the rotoscoping technique (which consits of shooting on video - as live action - and then painting over) and proves it isn't merely an excuse to make an animated film, this style of animating serves the film's plot, subject matter, tone and atmosphere perfectly, now with a clearer execution (the fleeting, uncertain and foggy forms of Waking Life, which served the film's dream-like essence, are almost left behind - but the whole surrealism and insanity of the…
Review by brat pitt ★★★ 8

my first linklater movie ever & uh probably my last

EDIT: THAT'S A LIE I FORGOT ABOUT SCHOOL OF ROCK

EDIT 2: I WATCHED THE BEFORE TRILOGY & NOW WHOLEHEARTEDLY FORGIVE HIM FOR THIS MESS I'M SORRY RICHARD
Review by Josiah Morgan ★★★★½

Perhaps the most indescribably evocative film ever made, functioning on both an emotive and formal level, it's a comedy until it stops being funny. Linklater's achievement is essentially unmatched in the medium of animation.

Recent reviews

Review by Marna Larsen ★★★

I'm a terrible person but a lot of this felt like Linklater's 90s rambling thing 10 years after it stopped being cute ALSO after five years of being forced to sit thru entire credit sequences for more RDJ being RDJ haven't I given him enough of my life...? Where does it end?

The book was cool tho.

And on second thought, I DO feel the level of empathy of the book was matched by this adaptation. Just the stoner 90s bullshit philosophizing didn't really live up to what I found humorous about the book. But keep in mind this is coming from the squarest person alive, I'm sure Linklater probably 'got' the book more than I did.
Review by Simon7 ★★★

Ich weiß nicht so recht, was ich von diesem Film halten soll.

Meine linke Gehirnhälfte findet den Look "interessant". Er wirkt wie ein Drogentrip durch die Verzerrung der Perspektive und die kargen Hintergründe.

Meine rechte Gehirnhälfte mochte die zwar etwas verschachtelte, aber zähe und wenig ergreifende Story nicht wirklich.

Die Schauspieler sind toll und es gibt zwischen dem ernsten Thema der Drogensucht auch einige fast zum Brüllen lustige Stellen.
Review by Alberto del Rio Medina ★★★★

Es una película muy divertida, es un aceirto usar este tipo de animación, y en que otra película que no sea sobre Pokemon, va a salir un slowpoke?
Review by Benjamin Allen Dickson ★★½

I really want to like this movie.
Review by antonishere ★★★½

If pretentiousness had a face, it would be Linklater's.
Review by Marta 🎷 ★★★½

I'm kind of confused, impressed and underwhelmed all at the same time
Review by key ★★★

give it up for rdj's chins
Review by Ciara

give it up for the vague blob!