15. A Scanner Darkly
Richard Linklater is one of the more interesting directors out there, and with A Scanner Darkly, he created one of the most unique modern American movies. Shot in digital, A Scanner Darkly was then animated in a process known as interpolated rotoscope, where a team of animators traced over the live-action movements of the actors, resulting in the movie's unusual look. A Scanner Darkly tells a story of a dystopian future where a new super-addictive drug known as substance D has spread like a virus across the U.S. Based off a Phillip K. Dick novel, A Scanner Darkly is one of the more surreal sci-fi films of the last decade or so and benefits from excellent performances across the board, particularly from Robert Downey Jr. A cautionary tale, A Scanner Darkly touches on themes of identity, memory, paranoia, and abusive authority and is a visual marvel with an extremely interesting narrative that is simply unlike any other recent sci-fi film, or any kind of film for that matter.