Matrix Resurrections Theory: The Movie Is Just Another Video Game
Warning: Contains spoilers for The Matrix Resurrections.
Neo and Trinity appear to make their triumphant returns in The Matrix Resurrections, but one theory suggests the entire movie could all just be another Thomas Anderson video game. Released in 1999, right before the both anticipated and feared dawn of a new millennium, The Matrix managed to become a pop culture touchstone in a way few films ever do. The idea that what humans perceived to be reality was all just a simulated digital existence wasn't invented by The Matrix, but it's the take on that concept that's resonated the most with the masses.
In some ways, the idea that the mundane, boring lives most people lead are just an illusion that can be escaped, is a very appealing one - even The Matrix even spawning its own religion - if only to break the years-long routine that the average person spends their lives locked in. While life in The Matrix's post-apocalyptic real-world is certainly far from ideal in its own right, it at least gives those within it a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning and keep resisting machine control. That's a much more compelling driving force than simply making the rent.
Of course, The Matrix's reputation as a game-changing movie was tarnished a bit by its divisive 2003 sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Director/co-creator Lana Wachowski set out to revive the franchise with 2021's The Matrix Resurrections, which initially presents itself in an extremely meta way, existing in a reality where the first three movies were video games designed by a man named Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves). Thomas eventually discovers he's really Neo, and the games were based on his repressed memories. At least that's what The Matrix Resurrections wants viewers to think happened. In reality, Resurrections' video game rabbit hole may go deeper than it appears.
It's not fully explained how the Machines managed to save Neo from his apparent death at the end of The Matrix Revolutions, but according to The Matrix Resurrections, he was placed into a new version of the matrix construct that restored his old Thomas Anderson persona. This time though, Thomas Anderson is a successful video game designer, and the creator of the hit Matrix video games, which are the three prior Matrix movies in game form. Thomas occasionally comes to believes that the games might be real, but under the watchful eye of The Analyst (Neil Patrick Harris) - posing as Neo's psychiatrist - Thomas is repeatedly convinced that he's instead simply suffering from delusions.
That's until Thomas stops taking his prescribed "blue pill" medication, which is soon followed by his realization of the truth, and his escape from the matrix with the help of Bugs and his own created version of Morpheus. At a certain point, not long after Thomas is asked to create a fourth Matrix game, everything begins to go crazy, as the revelations of who he really is and his past history are revealed to Neo. Agent Smith even reactivates as well, albeit with a new look. Yet, it's entirely possible that none of this actually occurred. Thomas Anderson may simply be a mentally disturbed man unable to keep a handle on what's real, leading him to channel those experiences into a new Matrix video game.
Judging by his previous suicide attempt, and the state of mind Thomas appears to be in from the beginning of The Matrix Resurrections, it's evident he's been struggling with some aspects of his life from the offset. Thomas was clearly already having issues keeping reality straight, but it's after his business partner takes him aside to reveal that Warner Bros. is demanding he create another Matrix video game that the harried designer truly begins to come apart. Soon after, Thomas is meeting Bugs and Morpheus, and seeing his partner turn into Agent Smith before his eyes. Things only get harder to explain from there, until the truth is revealed.
Except, that might not be the truth at all. Thomas might really be a video game designer, and the creator of the successful Matrix game series. He might really have become so engrossed in his creation that he began to believe he really was Neo, and doesn't look like the man everyone else around him sees. Instead of "The One," Thomas could well be struggling with his mental health and perception of reality while under pressure to make a follow-up to his greatest achievement. Much like Lana Wachowski did with The Matrix Resurrections back in reality, Thomas Anderson crafts a fourth Matrix story that's extremely meta, incorporating his real fantasies and making him the hero he's spent years fantasizing about being.
For the purposes of this theory, from the point when Thomas meets the artificial version of Morpheus in the bathroom, what the audience of The Matrix Resurrections is shown ceases to be real. Instead, the events onscreen are a playthrough of The Matrix Resurrections video game, designed in-universe by Thomas Anderson, and created to both please his bosses and try to exorcise his delusions. This idea goes a long way toward explaining the ending, in which Neo and Trinity emerge completely victorious, both somehow alive and well after dying during The Matrix Revolutions, and now both suddenly possessed with the powers of The One, with no real explanation given as to why. Neo and Trinity's victory over The Analyst, not coincidentally personified by Thomas' psychiatrist, represents Thomas' own wish to overcome his mental health struggles.
Smith represents another side to Thomas, that concerned with living up to the reputation of his past successes, despite fears he doesn't have what it takes anymore. When Smith helps Neo and Trinity in The Matrix Resurrections, it's the two sides of Thomas' psyche coming together to form a whole, hopefully for good. Thomas and his creation Neo have truly become one within the game, and Thomas ends up with Trinity, modeled after a woman in his life he wanted but never ended up with. The Matrix Resurrections video game became wish fulfillment for its creator, and like the movie itself, is so meta that reality folds inward. Interestingly though, the much maligned post-credits scene of The Matrix Resurrections is one final glimpse back at Thomas' actual reality. For all his efforts, the game has bombed, Thomas has retired, and those left behind on staff are trying desperately to pivot to a new project.