Rent or buy movies on YouTube or Google TV
Purchasing movies is no longer available on Google Play

A Scanner Darkly

2006 • 100 minutes
4.3
84 reviews
68%
Tomatometer
14A
Rating
Eligible

About this movie

Set in a not-too-distant future where America has lost its "war" on drugs, Fred, an undercover cop, is one of many people hooked on the popular drug, Substance D, which causes its users to develop split personalities. Fred is obsessed with taking down Bob, a notorious drug dealer, but due to his Substance D addiction, he does not know that he is also Bob. Based on a classic novel by Philip K. Dick. Starring Keanu Reeves ("Constantine," "The Matrix" trilogy), Academy Award-nominee and Golden Globe-winner Winona Ryder ("Girl, Interupted," "Mr. Deeds"), Academy Award and Emmy-nominee and Golden Globe-winner Robert Downey Jr. ("Good Night, And Good Luck" "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"), and Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominee and Emmy-winner Woody Harrelson ("North Country," "The People vs. Larry Flynt"). Directed by Academy Award-nominee Richard Linklater ("Before Sunset," "Dazed and Confused"). Filmed in live-action, and then animated using the same critically acclaimed process that Linklater used in his previous film, "Waking Life." MPAA Rating: R (c) 2006 Warner Bros. Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
Rating
14A

Ratings and reviews

4.3
84 reviews
Chris Cross
June 27, 2015
A great adaptation of the novel. The cartoon like imagery is beautiful and doesn't distract from a fascinating story. The plot is complex and fast paced and I think I might have struggled to keep up without having read the book prior. I like how the story portrays the evils of addiction without vilifying the victims. The film's characters are very human which helps to empathise with their struggles.
Uilliam Nebel
May 28, 2013
A good film on what cost being an addict can have. The impact of criminalization of drugs by the state on the people. And the tragedies, tensions, and destroyed humanity that exist between the two. How do we reconcile the drug issue? The destruction of freedom and economic consequences against willfully allowing people who will become terminal addicts to destroy themselves? The film doesn't preach on it, or provide an answer, or even offer a suggestion. It does frame that conversation that needs to happen.
A Google user
June 15, 2012
Love this so real-life everyday look at how things are in the sad but so very truth of life in the substance abuse addiction world we live in today....Most excellent 5 stars all the way!!! Should be free for educational purposes...it would help to show those in denial...