Thomas Anderson leads a double life. By day, he is a software programmer at a respectable tech company. By night, he is “Neo,” a computer hacker searching for answers to a question that haunts him: What is the Matrix? When the enigmatic Morpheus — the most wanted man alive according to the authorities — contacts Neo and offers him the truth, everything changes.

Neo discovers that the year is not 1999 but closer to 2199. The world he knows is a neural-interactive simulation called the Matrix, created by sentient machines to pacify the human race while using their bodies as an energy source. The real world is a scorched, sunless wasteland where the last remnants of humanity live underground in the city of Zion, fighting a desperate war against the machines.

Freed from the Matrix and trained in combat programs that can be uploaded directly to his brain, Neo begins to exhibit abilities that suggest he may be “The One” — a prophesied figure who can manipulate the Matrix at will and end the war. But the system fights back through the Agents, led by the terrifyingly efficient Agent Smith, programs designed to eliminate any threat to the simulation. The Matrix redefined visual storytelling with its revolutionary “bullet time” cinematography and remains one of the most influential science fiction films ever made.

Director & Cast

Directors: Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski — the visionary siblings drew inspiration from anime, Hong Kong martial arts cinema, cyberpunk literature, and philosophy to create a wholly original cinematic universe.

Cast: Keanu Reeves as Neo, Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus, Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity, Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith, Joe Pantoliano as Cypher, and Gloria Foster as The Oracle.

Behind the Scenes

The cast trained for four months in kung fu with legendary choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. The film’s “bullet time” effect — achieved using 120 cameras arranged in a circle firing in rapid sequence — revolutionized visual effects and became one of the most imitated techniques in cinema history. The Matrix won four Academy Awards and earned over $460 million worldwide.