A Scanner Darkly (M) PRESENTED IN 35MM FILM

A Scanner Darkly at The Revival House Perth

In a near-future America where 20% of the population is addicted to Substance D, undercover narcotics agent Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) leads a double life. By day, he wears a constantly shifting "scramble suit" that obscures his identity while reporting to his superiors. By night, he's Bob Arctor, living in a suburban house with a group of drug users and small-time dealers—paranoid Ernie Luckman (Woody Harrelson), conspiracy theorist Jim Barris (Robert Downey Jr.), damaged Donna Hawthorne (Winona Ryder), and erratic Charles Freck (Rory Cochrane). Bob's mission is to infiltrate the supply chain and identify the source of Substance D, but he's been undercover so long that he's become addicted himself. As the drug destroys the connection between the hemispheres of his brain, Bob can no longer distinguish between his identities, and his handlers assign him to surveil himself—creating a nightmare loop where hunter and prey become indistinguishable.

Director Richard Linklater adapts Philip K. Dick's semi-autobiographical novel using rotoscoping animation, filming live actors then painting over the footage frame by frame. The 2006 film's unique visual style—where reality constantly shifts and morphs—perfectly captures the paranoid, deteriorating mental state at the story's heart. Reeves anchors the film with a performance of increasing dissociation, while Downey Jr. delivers motormouth monologues of deranged logic that are both darkly funny and deeply sad. The animation allows Linklater to visualize hallucinations and the scramble suits' identity-obscuring technology while maintaining emotional authenticity. Graham Reynolds' score and the film's deliberate pacing create a mounting sense of dread as Bob's personality fractures. Dick's dedication to friends lost to drugs gives the surreal proceedings genuine tragedy.

Original format and audio experience of this film faithfully reproduced by The Revival House. Presented in 35mm film unless noted otherwise.

When: Friday, March 20th at 7:30PM
Where: The Revival House at the Como Theatre
Rating: M (Moderate drug themes, Moderate coarse language, Moderate sexual references)

What does a scanner see? Experience Linklater's mind-bending rotoscoped adaptation of Philip K. Dick's darkest novel, in 35mm film.

Presented by: The Revival House Perth