The new trailer for The Matrix Resurrections shows off a brand new version of the Matrix, and a lot of evidence points to the possibility that this new simulation is Neo’s prison. Keanu Reeves reprises his iconic role as Neo, the protagonist of the Matrix trilogy, one of the most iconic sci-fi franchises of all time. While the succeeding sequels were met with mixed reviews, the first film’s then unusual combination of martial arts, sci-fi, philosophy, and cutting-edge special effects resulted in a cultural phenomenon that turned dystopian cinema mainstream. At the center of this phenomenon is the man called Neo.
Neo is also known as “The One,” a messiah whom prophecy has tasked with saving humanity. In a nutshell, the Matrix is a program built by the rise of sentient AI and designed to keep earth’s remaining human population under control as bioelectric power cells. As Neo, Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) struggle to free humanity, Rogue program Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) threatens to assimilate the entire Matrix. This culminates in the ending of The Matrix Revolutions, in which Neo allows Agent Smith to assimilate him, the sentient machines send a deadly surge of energy through Neo’s real body at his behest, and both Agent Smith and Neo end up dead. After Neo sacrificed his life to save the Matrix itself, the entire program is rebooted, and the ending suggests that humans will be allowed to leave the Matrix and actually enter the real world, implying an era of peace between humanity and AI.
However, it seems that in the upcoming and highly anticipated fourth installment of the franchise, The Matrix Resurrections, Neo is stuck in the Matrix again, and plenty of clues suggest that this new iteration of the program is designed to keep him imprisoned and his powers in check. In this trailer breakdown of The Matrix Resurrections, we take a closer look at these clues. What are they, what do they mean, and how do they reference the first three Matrix films?
Neo Died In The Original Matrix Trilogy
Or did he? During the ending of The Matrix Revolutions, Neo’s lifeless body was carried off by the machines in a gorgeous funeral-like scene. The finality of Neo’s death is consistent with the character’s messianic role throughout the trilogy. At the same time, the trilogy concluded on a somewhat open-ended note. Although Zion was shown rejoicing as the war between humans and machines comes to an end, the final conversation between the Architect (Helmut Bakaitis) and the Oracle (Gloria Foster) implies that the resulting peace is more of a step towards the liberation of humanity. Moreover, Neo’s first death in The Matrix shows that he can be resurrected, which is also congruent with the series’ messianic themes. And considering how his body ended up in the hands of the most advanced AI in the world, it wouldn’t be a stretch if Neo is being kept alive through technology – albeit mentally imprisoned by the AI so as to avoid his messianic resurrection as The One.
Hints The New Matrix Is Neo's Prison
The first ten seconds of the trailer for The Matrix Resurrections makes it clear that Neo is back inside the Matrix. The trailer opens by showing a large house in the hills, in the middle of a serene suburban neighborhood. Inside the house, Neo sits on a chair across a therapist who uses his old name – the name he was called before he awakened as Neo. The therapist (played by Matrix newcomer Neil Patrick Harris) says, “Thomas, you seem particularly triggered right now. Can you tell me what happened?” While the scene seems innocent enough, it’s obvious for anyone who’s seen any of the first three films that this is a simulation. This is confirmed by the presence of a black cat, which appeared in the first movie when Neo first noticed a glitch in the Matrix. Moreover, the therapist's use of "triggered," a condescending word used to mock emphatic or emotional expression, shows that Neo is being kept under control. The therapist is also wearing bright blue glasses, a color that, in the series, is associated with subservience due to the iconic blue pills that keep people trapped in the Matrix – a glass jar of which is shown on the table. As Neo seems to remember none of the trilogy’s events, he explains that he’s been having “dreams that aren’t just dreams.”
The Matrix Resurrections trailer then drops more questions in a fast-moving montage of new scenes and old ones from the trilogy. Neo’s dreams include walking through a city street as it turns into code, bullets slowing down for Neo, memories involving Trinity and Morpheus, and even shots of people hooked up to the mechanisms that the machines use to harvest bioelectric power and keep people in the Matrix. One scene even suggests that the machines could be rebuilding Neo’s body. Combined with the encounter with the therapist, the implication of Neo’s dreams and memories is that he's not only in the Matrix but he's being kept there against his will.
Moreover, it’s made even clearer that the blue pills are being used to keep Neo from escaping the virtual prison when Jefferson Airplane’s "White Rabbit" starts to play in the background. The song’s lyrics further suggest of the new film's plot details: “One pill makes you larger / One pill makes you small” goes the song as Neo pops one of the blue pills in his mouth. “And the ones that mother gives you / Don't do anything at all” continues White Rabbit, as Neo is shown surrounded by people with their heads in their smartphones, and Neo later dumps out the blue pills into a sink. These pills are crucial to the mythology that The Matrix film series has established. While the blue pills are there to keep people subservient, the red pills in The Matrix can potentially awaken a person to their physical reality as a living bioelectric battery. Since the release of the first movie in 1999, the concept of the red pill has been used for political propaganda, appropriated by meme culture, and explained by the Wachowski sisters themselves as a metaphor for hormone therapy – a way to transition and escape the gender binary, which is represented by the Matrix itself. As the red and blue pills are in The Matrix Resurrections, it would seem that director Lana Wachowski is revisiting or possibly even further developing this metaphor. Either way, it’s practically a confirmation that Neo will, once again, need to escape the Matrix.
Similar hints are dropped by Neo’s encounters with the other characters in The Matrix Resurrections. “Go ask Alice” continues the lyrics in the song "White Rabbit," as Priyanka Chopra’s character closes a copy of the book Alice in Wonderland and looks at Neo – foreshadowing how he will have to dive into the proverbial rabbit hole. Meanwhile, actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen’s character, who is dressed exactly like Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus, offers Neo a red pill and says, “Time to fly.” Showing Neo her rabbit tattoo, Jessica Henwick’s blue-haired character leads Neo through a mirror and into what appears to be their safe house – a callback to Trinity’s part in Neo’s awakening in 1999. In a dojo in the middle of a lake, Morpheus pushes Neo to show his true power – another callback to the first film. Meanwhile, when Neo meets Trinity in a coffee shop, the two have no memory of each other apart from a vague feeling that they’ve already met – which has prompted theories about Trinity not being real in The Matrix Resurrections. Whether or not this is true, all of this points to Neo being unaware that he’s back in the Matrix, parts of which now seem designed specifically to keep him there.
How Neo Can Escape In Resurrections
The last parts of the trailer show dystopian shots of where the machines keep humans in the real world, impressive fight scenes involving the above-mentioned characters and the cops and agents from the Matrix, as well as Neo recalling and using some of his Matrix-bending powers. In short, much like in the first Matrix movie, Neo will be spending lots of time trying to escape the simulation, and also possibly to reclaim his memories. As Jonathan Groff’s character says in the last scene in the trailer, “After all these years, to be going back to where it all started – back to the Matrix!” However, despite all the confirmed story details from The Matrix Resurrections trailer, it’s still unclear how Neo will pull off his escape. While The Matrix Resurrections seems to be revisiting and redeveloping many of the elements that made 1999’s The Matrix so iconic, taking the red pill might not be enough to reawaken The One this time around. As the brand new version of the Matrix seems designed to keep Neo in place, he will need to reclaim his memories and powers before he can have any chance at escaping, which in turn will likely lead to another confrontation with the sentient machines.
