The red pill is Substance D, a hallucinatory drug that causes paranoia and hallucinations. It is the central interest of the amazing cast of characters in A Scanner Darkly, including Keanu Reeves (The Matrix), Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers), Winona Rider (Edward Scissorhands) and my personal favorite, the seemingly perpetually drug-addled Rory Cochrane (Dazed and Confused).   

Each of these characters are in different stages of Substance D's grip, a new generation of Lost Boys.

The story is set in a dystopian world of hidden cameras, hidden identities and crazed druggies.  It is a world where technology has infiltrated the everyday, where we are recorded almost 24/7 and our identities can be disguised by a constantly changing "suit" of different visual identities...

In fact, it is not far off from where we are now.

Unlike most cyberpunk works, computers do not figure strongly into Scanner's plot, but the zeitgeist is very much steeped in cyberpunk spirit.  A dash of noir, grim paranoia and the rewiring of perception with advanced technology are all touchstones of the genre.

The original story is Philip K. Dick's, an author who is arguably as influential as William Gibson in creating and shaping the original cyberpunk fiction aesthetic.  His writing has been translated into nine cyberpunk movies in all, from the brilliant Ridley Scott film Bladerunner to the infamously bad Ben Affleck vehicle Pay Check.

The immediately striking impact of the film comes through the unique animated textures of the movie, done through rotoscoping.  Rotoscoping is an animation process where the frames of photographic film are converted into line drawings. Linklater, the director, decided to use this effect in an effort to replicate his own textured lucid dreaming, thereby equating the effects of Substance D to a waking dream.

While filming was completed in 23 days, the animation process turned into a bit of a logistic nightmare, and took 18 months in total. 

The final result is worth the time.  The movie is a surreal and fascinating visual trip through the dual life of someone desperately trying to hold onto who they are in the face of the unreal.

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