Came across the Instagram of one of the costume designers daughters who told the story of how her mother made the knitwear for the film. They got such a response that they decided to make a knitwear brand with the same techniques. www.instagram.com/sussknits

The keyboard from Amazon came with matrix rain animation built in! So obviously I had to make my MacBook matrix themed to match it.

This is probably when you really grasp the stakes here. I love how all of the fight scenes in The Matrix mean something. After the training one, we already know how strong and powerful Morpheus is. He’s probably the best fighter in the whole film. Until Neo that is. But here he doesn’t even manage to make Smith wince. Smith grasping his collar is enough to make him feel overwhelmed. And Smith then takes every hit he throws at him, not affected at all. We now know the agents including Smith are definitely no laughing matter. Meaning when Neo does have to take him on we know how challenging it’s gonna be.

I recently bought a new tv and decided to celebrate it by rewatching all the films and animations from the Matrix universe. Since the fourth movie had a rather open ending suggesting a continuation, but at the same time placed the main characters (Neo and Trinity) in almost god-like roles, combined with the lack of concrete news about the upcoming fifth installment (we don’t even know if the original characters will return, or if they might pull off a soft reboot—which I believe would be the worst possible approach), I started wondering how this universe could be expanded to keep it interesting and still pose a challenge to them.

Here are a few of my ideas:

The core idea relies on the fact that the Earth is immense after all, and the previous saga only showcased a minuscule fraction of the underground world beneath a single continent. While in reality the planet might be home to isolated ecosystems and wildly different technologies, and the political situation in the real world might be far more complex, the Matrix system in the fourth film also differs so fundamentally from its predecessor that I am inclined to believe it is no longer a monolithic system. Instead, it has split into multiple branches/forks (much like Linux or many other open-source projects—meaning the foundation remains the same, but it does not rule out the existence of numerous variations with completely different approaches to the system).

The Network Split: Forks of the Matrix

- The Source Code Fracture: The split of the single global network into independent forks could have occurred just a few years after the truce Neo brokered at the end of the third film (The Matrix Revolutions), right during the great source code wars (known from the MMO events). The system reset did not compile cleanly. A cascading number of cache errors coupled with the massive, chaotic awakening of human minds led to a profound architectural crisis.

- The AI Faction War: The overloaded network could not sustain the tension. The algorithms of the Machines themselves splintered into rival factions, each securing its own infrastructure and creating distinct, isolated branches of the Matrix operating on entirely different protocols.

- Different variants of MATRIX: The creators could introduce several different versions of digital reality, each simulating diverse iterations of the world we know. One network might be locked in a late-90s loop (modeled after the system version from the original trilogy), another could mirror our current, hyper-stimulated tech-driven daily life (as seen in Resurrections), while a third could present a near, utopian future/alternative for this world's reality where the war with the Machines never broke out. Each of these forks would possess a completely isolated architecture and its own dedicated administrator programs.

The Four Powers of the New Earth

- Machines Seeking Dominance: The faction loyal to the old system of absolute control, managing regional, neurotic versions of the Matrix. They treat humans strictly as an energy resource. In the face of the ongoing crisis, they seek a global reset to purge all alternative forms of life.

- Human Radicals: Highly militarized remnants of old Zion who rejected the compromise-heavy peace politics. Their very existence could remain a total mystery even to Niobe, who in her authoritarian self-righteousness blindly assumed that only those who followed her own pacifist ideals survived the downfall of the old world and founded IO. This extremist faction aims for the total eradication of artificial intelligence, viewing any dialogue with the Machines as the ultimate betrayal of the human race.

- Coexisting Humans and Machines: The community as seen in the fourth installment (The Matrix Resurrections). Humans and rogue sentient machines living in harmony, developing subterranean agriculture and organic-mechanical tech. They strive to maintain the fragile peace, making them a target for both extremist factions.

- Heirs of the Old Civilization: The ultimate mystery and plot twist. A massive human civilization hidden deep within the Earth's mantle. The defining aspect here is psychological: neither they nor any of their ancestors have ever seen the inside of the Matrix. They are completely untainted by the trauma of captivity, systemic myths, religious messianism, or digital conditioning. Their predecessors successfully hid from the Machines at the very dawn of the War, before the invaders could capsule humanity, allowing this society to evolve for millennia in total isolation from the global conflict.

Technological Realities and the True Timeline

- Quantum Revolution and Bio-punk: Instead of relying on silicon, metal, and traditional electronics (which the Machines could easily track), this independent civilization focused entirely on advanced biotechnology. Their forced transition from digital to biological sciences paved the way for an incredible breakthrough in biological quantum computing. Their infrastructure and data systems are built on living DNA/RNA structures and controlled quantum entanglement at the cellular level. Developed peacefully over thousands of years, this technology has reached such a dizzying height that the Machines' binary, silicon-based infrastructure and the Matrix itself appear primitive and obsolete by comparison.

Intriguingly, this civilization does not attack the Machines due to their history (after all, hiding rather than fighting is what allowed them to survive) and their fear of how the enemy might have advanced over time. They remain completely unaware that the Machines—unable to detect this bio-tech since it blends seamlessly into the planet's natural biosphere—have actually stagnated in their own development (convinced of their absolute dominance over humanity through the creation of the Matrix, and lacking biological drivers for evolution and expansion, the Machines feel no need to expand their empire. It is enough for them that they "eliminated" the threat they knew about from humans, by locking them in Matrix and creating Zion to control their attempts at resistance).

- The Demographic Paradox Solved: The discovery of this civilization would unearth a terrifying truth about time. Zion was a powerhouse city inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people. Building such a massive population and infrastructure from a mere 23 liberated individuals (as claimed by the Architect) in less than two centuries is biologically and logistically impossible. The truth is that several thousand years have passed since the first war. Every Matrix cycle lasted significantly longer, and the Machines deliberately doctored history and calendars to keep the harvested humans trapped in a state of perpetual hopelessness.

- The Dramatic Conflict (The Compatibility Issue for Neo & Trinity): While Neo and Trinity gained god-like powers in the finale of the fourth film, this decentralized world architecture would throw a massive technical curveball at them. Because these alternative forks of the Matrix still stem from the same ancient source code, the duo wouldn't be entirely powerless inside them. Their abilities would still function, but through the lens of backward compatibility with the universe's original architecture. Upon stepping into these other, isolated branches of the network, Neo and Trinity would have to fight against severe structural barriers. The sudden collision of their powerful, primordial code with the foreign protocols of the new systems would trigger deep destabilizations within that reality. These compatibility anomalies and systemic environmental resistance would be instantly weaponized by local security programs trying to delete them.

More importantly, to the humans who never experienced the Matrix, Neo wouldn't be a messiah. They would view him as the ultimate Machine anomaly—a biological tool of control engineered by the system to keep rebels in an endless loop and artificially regulate their population growth. Neo would have to face the fact that his "holy crusade" was nothing more than an AI patch routine, and that real humanity survived and thrived with a level of bio-quantum science that far surpasses his own creators.

So - What do you think about this? Would such an expansion of universe bring a breath of fresh air to it and open up a compelling plot lines, rather than re-hashing the tropes of previous films like in The Matrix Resurrections? (which in my opinion stumbled heavily into being a carbon copy of the original movie - albeit a funhouse mirror version)

Strange but true: when-cinema-is-set

This movie is a 99.9% for me and sits at the top table of my all time favourites, however, the one gripe I have (and let's be crystal clear, I'm nitpicking) Is the SFX used when Neo is killed and subsequently becomes The One for very first time and runs and jumps into Smith's body. For a film that revolutionised SFX forever, this one scene just feels a little cheap. Outside of doing what they did, I'm not sure what might have come off as more convincing, but it sits there as the 0.1% of the movie I wish they had done differently. Anyone got any other pet peeves?

I have more then a dozen but if I were to pick 1

The moment Neo is in the train station and Agent smith shoots the phone off the hook, Neo sees him, and looks back at the exit,
Music: DA DEEERRRR
Trinity: run Neo…

Neo looks back at agent smith, abandoning the idea of running…

Trinity :what is he doing??
Morphious: He’s beginning to believe…

Neo proceeds to kick fuckin ass as the music slaps and neo begins believing he is the one

Still gives me goosebumps this scene ever time even now thinking about it.
Probs my favourite scene in any film / tv show ever

I’m curious.
I’ll start.

I was at my cousins, we were both around 7 at the time. We were both staying up late around 2 hours after my aunt did the final check to see if we were really asleep, every kid this age is already a master at faking being asleep so we were in the clear. After getting bored of playing tekken my cousin said he stole a cool looking VHS movie called the matrix, I looked at the cover it looked bizarre I said why not slap it in me ol boy.

The movie proceeded to blow both our young minds, I couldn’t comprehend what the hell I was watching I just knew it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. (It’s still the coolest thing I’ve ever seen)
I just remember literally pausing speechless with my cousin both of us looking at each other with our mouths open. I’m 33 now and I’ve probably seen it 20+ times

Been playing lots of GoW but yeah, SENTINELS!

https://x.com/cineworld/status/2078510189834064290?s=46 pls vote for the matrix so i can see in cinema again

What's the point of this movie?

I Hope that since i miss the background and i'm "fresh" about this, i'm missing something.

What's the Story behind this movie? Why did Just One of the wachowski sisters partecipated to It's production?

I'm kinda speechless couse It dosen't feel like nothing like the other movies.

It feels more like a parody or a reboot for childern idk.

The tempo, the cliques, the humor... FFS it s the first time i think this about a film but It was full of out of context "woke" things ( i hate this term but idrk what other Word could explain my feeling).

I'm so confused... And the best part Is that the movie like criticoze itself.

I think we've all been there at some point. We've all met someone who has "never actually seen The Matrix".

Although I do think it's particularly shameful for a huge action movie star to confirm he's never seen one of the most influential movies ever made. It is his industry after all. But oh well...

Seraph is a program from the original matrix and has become his own anomaly. He has Sati who may be the future.

He has beaten Smith before but things have changed.

Maybe Sati has some unbelievable powers she has not unlocked

Seraph is not giving up without a fight, neither is Sati!

Prove me wrong.

Does anyone else think Neo's name Thomas could be a reference to the Bible's 'doubting thomas' because symbolically Neo doubts the reality of the matrix like St. Thomas doubted the resurrection of Jesus. After all, we know the films are full of hidden christianity references.

Many major directors in recent months have come out as in support of AI in film. Uh, Martin Scorsese comes to mind, Steven Soderbergh. Um, and as the queen of the machines herself, I would love to know what your take on AI in film is.

Lilly: Well, it's complicated.

Sure.

Lilly: Um, I mean, as a filmmaker, I want to have all of the tools available that I can possibly use to make the best film I can. But we're in a dangerous time right now, everybody. AI is being used - We're in a fight for truth. There is a war of misinformation happening right now. Um, we are uh, there's a deluge of it. And I think that AI and deep fakes and propaganda it's flourishing under those types of things. If we lived in a perfect world, I think AI would be um, I would be 100% behind it. But we don't live in a perfect world. And so, I would prefer people to be pumping the brakes when it comes to a technology that has a lot of potential dangerous consequences for all of us. Not just politically, but also environmentally.

Yeah.

Lilly: We need to like slow it down and just understand what the ramifications of this technology are.

Even though she is ultimately calling for pumping the breaks and taking into consideration the dangers of the technology, she does seem to recognize there are benefits too.

wfonts.com and find OCR-A

I now have OCR-A font popularized by this film and matrix printers from the era. While not impressive to people here, I still think this is cool. Turn your PC into Neo's.

Went to see The Matrix at the Cosm and while it's mostly incredible, the picture quality being only so-so with clipping highlights and some jittery playback, the biggest issue, which I'm pretty surprised about, is that it still says "Directed by The Wachowski Brothers" at the end. Seems like that would have been an easy fix, especially with, you know, ALL the other work that went into it.