The Matrix Resurrections

"I've had dreams that weren't just dreams."

"I still know Kung-fu."

"There is a part of me that feels like I've been waiting my whole life for you."

"I saw this in a dream. My dream ended here."

"The only thing that matters to you is still here. I know it's why you're still fighting, and why you will never give up."

"They made you believe their world was all you deserved, but some part of you knew that was a lie. Some part of you knew what was real."

"What the Merv is trying to say, is that their situation is a little bit like mine. To have their lives back, yours has to end."

"Here, our unexpected alliance ends. You know the difference between us, Tom? Anyone could have been you, whereas I've always been anyone."

"You ruined every suck-my-silky-ass thing! We had grace! We had style! We had conversation! Not this... [mimics text message sound] Art, films, books were all better! Originality mattered! You gave us Face-Zucker-suck and Cock-me-climatey-Wiki-piss-and-shit!"

"This is not over yet! Our sequel franchise spinoff!"

"Nothing breeds violence like scarcity."

"I know it doesn't seem fair, but neither does growing old, and you don't hear me complaining."

"Throughout the film, it’s made clear that Neo is still recovering his skills... He’s a bit rusty... and doesn’t possess all the abilities he once had: namely, flying. Watching Neo and Trinity leap off the roof, there’s a distinct feeling of hope for those of us watching... .And yet... he begins to flail, falter, and fall. Thankfully, Trinity is there to save the day... Neo cannot be “the One” without Trinity. She’s as much a crucial part of his ability to control the Matrix as him “freeing his mind.” They are intrinsically tied together, bound beyond fate, to the point where they are unable to function without the other... The ending to Resurrections is the realization of what’s always been true, Trinity and Neo TOGETHER makes the power of the One possible. Neo couldn’t do the things he did without Trinity and her love. Trinity believed so thoroughly in Neo, even when he himself didn’t, she never noticed her own role in the manifestation of these unique abilities. The Matrix Resurrections‘ focus on the love between these two, and how they continually fight for/save each other, offers these moments in the previous films a new frame of reference. Now audiences (and obsessed movie nerds like myself) can look back and see the evidence built into the previous films. In this light, the final moments of the film, make perfect sense, and feels like the most logical conclusion to their love story."

"The story picks up 20 years after The Matrix Revolutions. Neo (Reeves) is living an ordinary life... under the name Thomas A. Anderson... as the world’s most celebrated video game designer... However, Thomas suffers from delusions that make it difficult to separate reality from fiction. His therapist... prescribes him blue pills to help contain the illusions.... Thomas meets a woman named Tiffany (Moss) who looks just like Trinity. Neither of them recognizes each other, but they feel that they have an undeniable connection. Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) suddenly appears with a red pill to free Thomas’ mind. Who can he trust and how can he save Trinity?... The first act of The Matrix Resurrections tackles the subject of mental health. Thomas is consistently gaslit, as elements of reality are blamed on his mental state. He strives to become a form of “normal” that society dictates. Neo’s trauma is placed front and center, as he must ultimately make the decision between free will and comfort. The Matrix Resurrections is existentialist to its core. The film repeatedly pokes fun at Hollywood’s control over the seemingly never-ending wave of sequels, prequels, and reboots. It teases at its very own existence and the stress of reinventing what once redefined the medium. Matrix fans have a plethora of theories of what the original is all about, many of which The Matrix Resurrections brings up."

"The Matrix Resurrections is a movie that knows you know its legacy — knows that the language and iconography of The Matrix (“red pill,” “bullet time,” “The Oracle,” “The One”) have seeped into the culture, into our minds, even if we somehow haven’t seen any of the previous movies. It also knows that this is the 21st century. Which means that much of what felt novel or prescient about the world of that first movie — with its allegorized, cyber-savvy world-within-worlds, its riffing on the idea of digital selves — has come to define human experience as we currently know it. Wachowski has given us a movie that most astutely reminds us of something Lilly once said at the GLAAD Awards in 2016: “While the ideas of identity and transformation are critical components in our work, the bedrock that all ideas rest upon is love.” Resurrections is a love story — between Neo and Trinity, obviously. Resurrections plays like a spin on the preceding Matrix trilogy that could only have come on the heels of projects like Cloud Atlas and Jupiter Ascending, in which the Wachowskis leaned further and further into their loving strangeness, their woo-woo theatrics and sentimentality, their conceptual ambition. It is a Matrix movie that could only have come with twenty-plus years of hindsight — and insight... I was moved, impressed — far more than I expected to be."

"The Matrix is an action science fiction movie, but it defied all expectations. The movie is studied in film schools around the world. Audiences continue to debate the meaning behind the 1999 film. The Matrix Resurrections is the newest installment, which features some fresh faces in familiar roles. Actor Jonathan Groff recently explained why reading the screenplay made him cry.... Groff is a newcomer to The Matrix franchise, but he also felt the extreme love and care that comes with the upcoming sequel. He connected with Smith’ approach to the fight sequences. Groff explained, “When our fight was over, I felt deeply connected to him in a physical way.”... The Matrix Resurrections deeply touched Groff. He thought about Reeves and Moss playing bringing these characters back to the silver screen in such a meaningful way that it caused him to cry. He said, “When I read the script for this movie I cried, because the idea of watching these two iconic actors in these two iconic parts coming back and fighting to have their love again just wrecked me.”"

"Art is a mirror...Most will prefer to gaze at the surface but there will be people like me who enjoy what lies behind the looking glass. I made this movie for them."

"Technology paradoxically brought us closer together while also isolating or inculcating us from each other"

"Smith, too, was "struck by how much humor is in it" — but that doesn't mean Neo will be cracking quips like Tony Stark. "It's throwing down the Matrix gauntlet again; it's super smart, clever, entertaining, suspenseful, and funny," he says. Adds Watchmen and Candyman star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, 35, who plays Morpheus, a different version of Neo's mentor originated by Laurence Fishburne: "Out of all of the sci-fi things that I've done, Matrix is the one that is the most grounded in reality, ironically. There are all of the high concepts surrounding The Matrix within our story, but really there's so much heart and humanity that's driving this narrative."... Emphasis on heart. "Not that it needed it," says Smith, "but certainly the depth of why this film got made is the sense of it being a love story between Trinity and Neo." It was Lana's deep connection to the characters that resonated with her stars. Reeves remembers the conversation when Lana first told him about her idea for another sequel. "It was one of those phone calls where even though you're at home, you stand up," he says. For her part, Moss saw the new movie as a rare "opportunity to embody" Lana's love. "I've never felt that way before, where I could see that I am an extension of her heart in playing this role," she says."

"To the two actors who know her best, Lana felt like a different director in some ways. Smith remembers that on the original trilogy, she was "more behind the monitor" but "still hands-on." With Resurrections, "she was participating more with the movement of the camera, and more interested in doing than rehearsing. It was less about prep and more about everyone's readiness to find the unexpected in the moment." Smith confesses they "barely rehearsed, if at all." In other ways, working on Resurrections was like reuniting with an old friend. Once Lana called "Action!" Moss says she went right back to where she was with Reeves in the original movie. "Most of my scenes are with Keanu, and it was just a pleasure to sit across from him and do that again," she says, as she and Reeves sit side by side in matching director's chairs. "He has a masterful understanding of action. I've watched him grow in the last 20 years. I'm in awe of it." Reeves shakes his head back and forth as she speaks, silently protesting. "But you've got a flavor," he responds. "It's Trinity! It's Carrie-Anne Moss, Trinity flavor. All the fierceness and mind, focus, commitment is there in the gestures. Untamed and wild and controlled." After all these years, it's still a flavor we can't get enough of."

"Before Moss and Smith change into their next outfits for the photo shoot, they slip away, catching up on each other's lives since making Resurrections. They push through the studio's back exit, flooding the darkened room with afternoon sunshine. Fans of the films might immediately think of the door of light, a portal Neo would use to slip into the digital "backdoor" of the Matrix."

"Keanu Reeves - Neo"

"Carrie-Anne Moss - Trinity"

"Yahya Abdul-Mateen II - Morpheus"

"Jessica Henwick - Bugs"

"Jonathan Groff - Smith"

"Neil Patrick Harris - The Analyst"

"Priyanka Chopra Jonas - Sati"

"Jada Pinkett Smith - Niobe"

"Lambert Wilson - Merovingian"

"Return to the Source"