The Matrix

Can a computer hacker save the world? Maybe if you hack deep enough…

By any reckoning this is one of the most influential movies of the past quarter-century. The Matrix didn’t just change the way films looked and moved, it altered the way we perceived the world(s). For example, what if “virtual reality” is the only reality we recognize. You can find the roots of WikiLeaks and Q-anon here.

That’s not to say the Wachowskis — pre-transition — originated much of anything. Rather, The Matrix synthesized all manner of cross-cultural currents, scientific and technological, aesthetic, artistic, philosophical, and rolled them all into a heady sci-fi action flick about a bland non-entity who might just be the one to wake humanity from its hypnotic inertia. The film is front-loaded with ideas and in the end it settles for adrenaline, but it remains an essential millennial touchstone, the zeitgeist electric.

Staff Pick: Juan

Intro by Sean Wicks, VFX Production (Sound)

A wildly cinematic futuristic thriller that is determined to overpower the imagination.

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

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