A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly

Release Date

2006

Director

  • Richard Linklater

Cast

  • Keanu Reeves
  • Winona Ryder
  • Robert Downey Jr.

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.

Based on the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly tells the story of a near-future dystopia in which America has virtually lost the war on drugs. Robert Arctor (Keanu Reeves), a narcotics cop in Orange County, California, is undercover so deep that he has become an addict. He is wooing Donna (Winona Ryder), a dealer, to ferret out her supplier. At the same time, he receives orders to spy on his housemates (Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Rory Cochrane), one of whom is suspected of being Donna's biggest customer.

Photo credit: Warner Brothers

Past Programs

2016

Your Brain on Drugs

The Nickelodeon, Columbia, SC

2018

Experiencing addiction through VR

Montclair Film, Montclair, NJ

2019

Understanding harm reduction

Shotgun Cinema, New Orleans, LA

2022

Addiction: A condition of neural dissonance

Ragtag Cinema, Columbia, MO