What does the scanner see?
Phillip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly is a drug filled fever dream. I know in my list of the 3 types of films not to watch high I specifically said not to watch movies about drugs but I'm prone to breaking my own rules sometimes. Richard Linklater's rotoscope animated adaption is both a trippy experience as well as a letter of appreciation to the great science fiction author.
In the near future, doped up cop, Bob Arctor (played by Keanu Reeves) is assigned by the agency to monitor a suspicious household full time through a government surveillance system that monitors everyone. The problem? It's his household. Because every cop wears what they call "the scramble suit" no one knows his true identity (nor does his housemates). Due to the hemisphere damaging effects of a mysterious drug called Substance D, Arctor begins to lose sight of which life he's really living.
Your first viewing of A Scanner Darkly should always be a sober one. The film's plot is hard to pick up on and doesn't quite unravel until the last 20 min. The first two thirds of it seems random or pointless until you realize it's almost entirely set-up. Re-watching this film a second time is really when I realized the full extent of the plot. On the surface it just seems like a bunch of scene with paranoid people interacting but it's all for a pointless (well some if it's just there to be funny). When I watched it high I found myself trying to find all the pieces and steps to the elaborate reveal at the end. It'll make you feel accomplished once you find all the pieces and my grow more appreciation for the film. The beautifully trippy rotoscope animation was also a plus for an intoxicated viewing.
Backgrounds often don't fully mesh with the foreground and move around improperly. This became really apparent but not frustrating. To me it felt like a creative decision, the animators went a whole year past schedule just so the film was up to their creative standards so I doubt any of the trippy effects of the animation were on accident. The first 5 minutes may be hard on your eyes but it's smooth sailing from there.
It's greatly beneficial to have a movie where Keanu Reeves, RDJ and Woody Harrison all trip out on drugs in the some of the most hilariously paranoid scenes. Watching it high wasn't mind blowing but it was certainly an enhancement to the film.
Critical Consensus 9/10
High Factor 7/10
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