Watch A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly is a film based on the novel of the same name by science fiction writer Phillip K. Dick. A dystopian romp through a horrible future, the film provides a look into one possible extreme of the drug war. In the future, the war on drugs has completely failed, and a powerful street drug called Substance D has taken over the market. The government, in response, creates an invasive and covert response to infiltrate the networks, find the suppliers and shut it down. In order to protect their identities, covert agents wear suits that completely alter their appearance constantly when they're reporting in as detectives.

Detective Bob Arctor goes undercover and lives with housemates Luckman and Barris. All three spend their days doing drugs and becoming more and more paranoid as the days progress. Arctor meets a cocaine addict and supplier named Donna that he falls in love with, and whom he plans to buy bigger and bigger supplies of Substance D from until she'll have to introduce him to her supplier. That doesn't happen, but what does happen is that Barris goes to the police, trying to claim that Arctor and Donna are terrorists. In fact, because he's wearing his scramble suit and going as his police persona, "Fred," Barris actually confesses to Arctor, whose addiction has caused brain damage and difficulty operating in reality.

Arctor's superior officer, "Hank," reveals that he figured out Arctor was also "Fred" while undercover, and reprimands Arctor for his addiction. Arctor is then sent to New Path, a clinic that supposedly helps Substance D addicts. "Hank" is revealed to be Donna, and the plot within a plot is that, while Arctor was supposedly put undercover to nab Barris, he was also purposefully turned into a Substance D addict. New Path is using addicts to grow new crops, and it is in fact the kingpin of the substance trade. Arctor finds the flowers and smuggles them out, blowing the whistle on manufacture.