Scanner Darkly
2016

The Nickelodeon Columbia, SC

with

Dr. Steven Harrod

Associate Professor and Program Director, Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina

A Scanner Darkly— Your Brain on Drugs

A discussion of the effects of drug abuse on the psyche.

The Nickelodeon Columbia, SC

Film Synopsis

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

About the Speaker

Dr. Steven Harrod is a professor and director of the Experimental Program within the Department of Psychology at the University of South Carolina. He received a BA in psychology from the University of Kentucky, and an MA and PhD in experimental psychology and psychobiology from Kent State University.