The Matrix Resurrections (2021)
The Matrix Resurrections is an action science-fiction film directed by Lana Wachowski. 1
Overall, many moments in the film didn’t feel like they had the appropriate emotional build-up and I had trouble taking it seriously. It is, to me, a pretty silly film. This silliness is most obvious at the beginning, with the absurdity of the game development studio workplace. It appears to be intentionally depicted to look like what starry-eyed game developer hopefuls seem to think it is, but at the same time it seems to want the viewer to take the scenes seriously. I like the short video satire named So You Want to Work in the Video Game Industry much better. 2
Originally, the Wachowski sisters expressed no interest in ever making a sequel. However, Lana Wachowski finally decided to do it after the death of her parents as a way to help her grieve. 1
Summary
At the beginning, it follows a character named Bugs who discovers a modal in which a past moment is playing in a loop and finds a program modeled after Morpheus. It’s revealed that this modal was created by Thomas Anderson, who created a video game called The Matrix based on his past memories as Neo. At this video game company, Anderson’s involvement with the company borders on satire, as practically everyone reveres him and he is graced with so many awards. 2
He is known by his coworkers for struggling to maintain a grip on reality, at times thinking that he is stuck in a simulation. To counter this, he’s taking blue pills labeled as anti-psychotics which are prescribed to him by his psychiatrist. However, along with some help from Morpheus and Bugs, he eventually realizes that he is in the Matrix and escapes it. 2
During his escape, he notices Trinity in a pod nearby. However, he is unable to save her as well. After arriving in the safety of a human city, he decides to try and save Trinity against the wishes of the city’s governor Niobe, who arrests him. Bugs and her crew help Neo escape anyway, and try to save Trinity. While in the Matrix, they find out that the psychiatrist was the one who revived Neo and Trinity as a way to gain higher power generation efficiency. This attempt is unsuccessful, and upon return to the human city Bugs is court martialed. 2
Right after Niobe expresses her deep disapproval of Bugs’s actions, a machine arrives who asks for Neo’s presence. Neo and Bugs talks to Sati, who explains that her parents had created the pods that confined Neo and Trinity, and expresses a desire to also get revenge on the machines for killing her parents. They return to save Trinity and during the escape, Trinity finds herself regaining her control over the Matrix. At the end of the movie, Trinity and Neo return to gloat over the analyst and thank him for their second chance. They fly off after expressing a desire to remake the Matrix to their own designs. 2