April 16, 2026
A Scanner Darkly
USA 2006 • 100 min (1.85:1)
Directed by: Richard Linklater
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder Venue: Analog Wine Library
Presented by: Chuck Koplinski
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About the film
Richard Linklater’s adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s novel utilizes digital rotoscope animation to create an alternate reality, perfectly suited to the author’s radical aesthetic. Keanu Reeves is Bob Arctor, an undercover cop trying to determine where a new drug, Substance D, is coming from and how it’s made. Along the way he gets involved with a group of ne’er-do-wells who’ve fallen under the drug’s sway and finds himself following in their footsteps. Hypnotic and as seductive as the drug at its center, the film is engaging from start to finish, Linklater adhering to Dick’s paranoid and nihilistic view of the world, creating a sobering vision of a world beset by corruption and paranoia.
#PhilipKDick #RichardLinklater #CultCinema #AnimatedFilm #Rotoscope #SciFiNoir #2000sCinema #MindBending #BigScreenExperience
Presented by Chuck Koplinski
"What struck me after seeing Scanner multiple times was how Linklater’s layered narrative proved even more moving with each viewing. The film slowly sucks you in, much as Substance D does to its characters, until you have become unwittingly immersed in this visually bright nightmare. Like Arctor, Barris and the rest, we are seduced, the filmmaker’s unique visual approach mesmerizing. Only too late do we realize how emotionally invested we’ve become in these characters’ plights. Their ultimate fate proves devastating as, in a sense, we’ve walked in their shoes, unwittingly making ourselves vulnerable, Linklater exploiting us for maximum narrative impact. And yet, despite its dour message, I keep returning to it, Scanner holding sway over me in a way only a few films have."
Chuck Koplinski is a film critic and contributing writer to the Library of Congress. Join Chuck for an insightful introduction and an engaging talkback after the screening.
Film-Fanatic.Club • Analog Wine Library
129 N Race St, Urbana, IL 61801
