The Matrix Resurrections Is a Testament to the Power of Stories and the Necessity of Hope

It’s difficult to describe the premise of The Matrix Resurrections without any spoilers, because the premise itself is built on inherent mystery: How is this happening? Why is this happening? Aren’t Neo and Trinity dead? And if they aren’t, why are they in the Matrix without seeming to know they’re in the Matrix?

However, we’ll try. This review will get into some general plot points from the first half of the film but will stay away from anything not shown in the trailers and will not contain any spoilers for the second half.

Keanu Reeves and Jessica Henwick in The Matrix Resurrections. Warner Bros. Pictures

Resurrections was written and directed by Lana Wachowski, half of the sister pair that created the original trilogy. She and Lilly Wachowski lost both of their parents in quick succession not too long ago, and while Lilly (understandably) felt that going back to a story from earlier in her life wasn’t right for her, Lana found comfort in returning to a world and characters that were deeply meaningful to her. The film is a testament to her love for those characters, the love she and Lilly have for their parents, and the power of stories to provide healing and connection in times of enormous grief.

What is real? Warner Bros. Pictures

So here’s what you need to know. Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) are both in the Matrix again. Or are they? (They are.) (Unless . . . ?) Bugs (Jessica Henwick)—the captain of the Mnemosyne—and her crew are set on rescuing Neo. The first half of the movie is generally dedicated to unraveling some of those primary questions we have about its premise. It’s chock-full of winking, self-aware references to itself, which elsewhere might be annoying but in this movie feel like both a natural part of a series about self-awareness and necessary to address the elephant in the room. The movie has no problem poking fun at its own participation in a reboot/remake culture that yearns for, to paraphrase a marketing executive in the movie, “originality” and “freshness” while retreading the same properties over and over. However, The Matrix Resurrections isn’t about striving to do something new (although in many ways it does). It’s about remembering and returning to what made the series wonderful in the first place—love, connection, and bonkers sunglasses.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Murray Close/Warner Bros. Pictures

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss slip gracefully into the complex state of each of their characters—20 years older yet also frozen in time, living out the treadmill loops the Matrix has manufactured to keep them numb with a side of dissatisfaction. It’s clear how tenderly the actors feel toward their characters as well as how thoughtfully they, along with Wachowski and fellow screenwriters David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hemon, approached how each character would be coping with their situation. Both Reeves’s portrayal of Neo as trapped in a deep, self-doubting sadness and Moss’s take on Trinity as a woman who has been trying to keep a lid on her true self for as long as she can remember feel accurate and gently relatable. Each of their performances is great on its own, but together (as the movie’s plot reflects) their presence is extraordinarily moving.

Warner Bros. Pictures

As Bugs, Jessica Henwick proves for the umpteenth time that she deserves to front a series of her own, conveying with bearing and delivery a much fuller and more nuanced characterization than what might have technically been on the page. Though she’s not the new Morpheus, in some ways she takes on some of the old Morpheus’s characteristics, including an intense faith in Neo and a willingness to push back on or disregard orders that contradict that faith. Henwick’s ability to play this with a potent combination of badassery and tenderness (a combination Reeves himself has embodied throughout this series) makes her a delight to watch and the most exciting of a variety of exciting new cast members.

Jonathan Groff. Warner Bros. Pictures

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jonathan Groff have difficult tasks on their hands, as they’re both more explicitly taking on functions that were some of the most distinctive parts of the original trilogy. The script gives them each some wiggle room, which allows them to make their characters distinctive and entertaining in their own right, which they both easily have the charisma and skill to do. Wachowski movies have always had a particular casting genius, putting actors in roles that manage to simultaneously wield their existing persona while showing off a new angle of their capabilities. Abdul-Mateen flows marvelously between a relatable groundedness and an opulent theatricality, while Groff brings an edge of menace that’s supremely watchable.

Priyanka Chopra in The Matrix Resurrections. Warner Bros. Pictures.

As should be expected from a Matrix movie, the costumes, styling, and production design are a rich text. With costumes by Lindsay Pugh and production from Peter Walpole and Hugh Bateup (the art director on the original Matrix trilogy), the film is mostly successful in melding the aesthetic of the originals with a sensibility that takes into account where the movies’ world would be many years from the end of The Matrix Revolutions and how Lana Wachowski’s work has progressed over the past 20 years here in our world. Personally, I did find the look and feel of the real world to be a bit slick and computer-generated looking for my taste, as compared to the earthy materialism in the earlier movies, but I can also see how the look echoes the themes.

My one major complaint I have is the way the action and fighting scenes are shot and edited together. While previous Matrix movies are well known for the distinctiveness and coherency of their action sequences, this one uses shaky, confusing camerawork spliced together at too rapid a pace to truly follow what was happening. It’s a shame, because several of these scenes take place in interesting settings and with what seems to be exciting blocking, but the technical presentation precludes the enjoyment of taking it in.

Neil Patrick Harris in The Matrix Resurrections. Warner Bros. Pictures

Those who come to the Matrix movies for tight plotting might come away frustrated—there are some gaps in the mechanics of the story, which occasionally relies overmuch on metaphor to wash over detail. Ultimately, however, the movie is a welcome return to its homebase: feelings and choice. The original trilogy (and the Wachowski filmography in general) is fascinated with whether we have the ability to choose, particularly when both options have a heavy price. Resurrections is similarly interested in the question and pushes deeper in, asking us to consider the meaningfulness of choosing hope and connection even when the outcome seems hopeless. Choosing difficult truth over easy ignorance. Choosing to keep fighting for a better world, and finding hope in the fact that even though the forces of oppression may not change, change happens in the bridges we form between each other, and the knowledge and power that grow on those bridges. Choosing to risk potential pain for the sake of love, and knowing that the value of that pain and love far outweighs the alternative numbness.

Warner Bros. Pictures

For me and many of my loved ones, 2021 was a brutal year. If you’re reading this, I suspect that’s been the case for you and many of your loved ones too. At the end of a brutal year on top of several other brutal years, The Matrix Resurrections is more than a balm—it’s an outstretched hand encouraging us to keep going and reminding us that we keep each other alive.