This Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr. Sci-fi Movie Is Unlike Anything You’ve Ever Seen

Both Keanu Reeves and Robert Downey Jr. have been involved in some very unique projects in their careers. When The Matrix came out, for example, no one had seen anything like it before. 26 years later, it’s still a cult classic with endless rewatch value. Downey Jr., in his half-century-long career, has played everything from Sherlock Holmes to Dr Dolittle and, of course, Iron Man. That said, they have starred only in one movie together, and it is one that remains as odd and just as wondrous as when it was first released in 2006.

The title A Scanner Darkly is rather appropriate, as evidenced by the director’s dependence on grim, gritty tones throughout the film. It’s a direct reference to the Corinthians Bible quote that, “we see as through a glass darkly.” Directed by Richard Linklater, A Scanner Darkly is unlike any movie you will have encountered, unless you’ve watched Waking Life where he uses the same technique. Linklater makes ample use of rotoscoping animation to give the entire movie a virtual reality-esque feel. 

Dim, Dark, Disillusioning: A Scanner Darkly is Visually Unique, the Storyline Gripping

Set sometime in the near future, the narrative itself follows Keanu Reeves’ character, Fred, who plays an undercover agent trying to bust a small drug operation. They are trying to track this elusive drug called Substance D, where “D” stands for death. His assignment is to infiltrate a group of drug dealers as Bob Arctor. As Arctor, Fred completely immerses himself in the mission, even going as far as to constantly take the futuristic Substance D till he becomes dependent. At one point, he cannot differentiate between what is real and what’s a hallucination. He starts losing his sense of self, realising the drugged-out group he is trying to infiltrate are his only friends. Meanwhile, Downey’s character is one of the small-time drug lords. He is prone to sudden odd musings and tends to go on a rant. He offers the comic relief when it starts feeling too claustrophobic.

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The film is a faithful adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel of the same name, which is a feat, since not many have been able to translate the stifling darkness of Dick’s novels to the screen. The book was originally released in 1977. Half a century later, it remains as relevant to the current issues plaguing the world as it was the day it came out. The film reflects the peculiarities of Dick’s world, the stifling atmosphere, the paranoia and the feeling of being watched, and a reality that’s threatening to slip away. In this near-dystopian world, the government, in partnership with a major drug company, is waging an apparent war on drugs, when it’s just a way to ease into constant state-sanctioned civilian surveillance to create a police state. And Fred is just another pawn in this scheme. In a particularly claustrophobic moment when he loses his sense of identity and reality, Fred, as Arctor, says, “What does a scanner see? Into the head? Down into the heart? Does it see into me? Into us? Clearly or darkly? I hope it sees clearly because I can’t any longer see into myself. I see only murk. I hope for everyone’s sake the scanners do better, because if the scanner sees only darkly the way I do, then I’m cursed and cursed again.”

The film is erratic, with no apparent semblance of continuity between the many confusing scenes. Of course, this is intentionally done and, along with the visuals, it creates a surreal dimension where spatial time doesn’t seem to matter. It all somewhat comes together in the end, though. The film reflects Dick’s enraged and disdainful take on drugs and their effect on society. Dick himself suffered incredibly due to his own history with drugs and he revisits some of that in the book, making it somewhat autobiographical. The film translates these feelings well to the screen, the paranoia, discontent, and darkness apparent. It makes for a solid warning against drug use. It shows the beginnings of a failing world from the eyes of the fallen. 

A Scanner Darkly is streaming on Sling TV.