New Delhi: The Matrix Revolutions (2003), the third instalment of the Matrix Trilogy, ended with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) dying in a hovercraft explosion and Neo (Keanu Reeves) sacrificing himself to save the Machines from the Agent Smith Infection.
But are Neo and Trinity really dead?
As the name suggests, The Matrix Resurrections appears set to bring these characters back, the trailer of the fourth installment of the franchise shows. Keanu Reeves's look in this movie appears to be inspired by another famous character played by the actor, John Wick.
On Thursday, Warner Bros dropped the trailer of Lana Wachowski's Matrix 4, titled The Matrix Resurrections, which broke the internet. Before the launch of this long-awaited trailer, the makers used the strategy of breaking the fourth wall, by providing fans with a number of teaser trailers, in the most creative manner.
The makers launched a website, 'whatisthematrix.com', where viewers are asked to make a choice — Red Pill or Blue Pill. Different clips are played on clicking the pills. The Blue Pill symbolises 'choosing to live in ignorance', while 'The Red Pill' symbolises ‘choosing to know a life-changing truth’, a reference from the 1999 movie, The Matrix.
An interesting point is that the time announced by the narrator of each clip is real — you can just check your watch to confirm.
The trailer is packed with several literary references and hidden messages.
The Black Cat reference
The trailer opens with the scene of a suburb. It could be a simulation, restarted after eliminating the Smith Virus from the Matrix. Thomas Anderson visits a psychiatrist, played by Neil Patrick Harris. Thomas sees a Black Cat at the psychiatrist's office, which is a reference to the Deja Vu cat from previous Matrix movies. The Deja Vu cat appeared every time there was a glitch in the Matrix. There was a ruckus after Neo had seen the cat in the original Matrix movie, which is why he would become nervous after seeing the cat. Thomas is probably suffering from PTSD and he tells the psychiatrist that he sees strange dreams.
A street of Matrix code, similar to the original Matrix movie, is then seen, followed by a ‘zero’ in the code. Then comes a clip of a man, whose eyes changes into green code, suggesting he could be a programme, or may have been hijacked by an Agent. Neo tries to stop a bullet, but it slips away from his hand.
Anderson in the pods
An interesting revelation is made. Neo’s bare body, with burnt eyes, is surrounded by Sentinels, and Caretaker Machines appear to be repairing his body, and trying to reconnect him to the Matrix. Neo had suffered injuries after his fight against Bane, and the robots were trying to heal his body. One caretaker machine had disconnected Neo from his pod (used to integrate humans into the Matrix) in the first movie.
Thereafter comes a scene where Yahya Abdul Mateen II is firing guns, and he could be Morpheus, the leader of the Nebuchadnezzar. Then, two hands, probably of Neo and Trinity, touch each other, and a white light shines, indicating some sort of activation. Two robots are seen facing each other. These robots collect power pods, and replace human batteries, and Neo could be seen in one of the pods.
The Therapist's office
Neo asks the therapist if he is crazy, to which the latter replies: "We don't use that word in here.”
At the therapist’s office, pictures of a red butterfly and a blue butterfly can be seen in the background, referencing the Red Pill and Blue Pill. Also, a butterfly signifies rebirth, and transformation, suggesting Neo being integrated back into the simulation. The therapist is wearing glasses with a blue frame, and a blue sweater, which is another reference to the Blue Pill. He also prescribes some Blue Pills to Anderson, in order to keep him in the dark.
Real-life mental health issues
Thomas is questioning reality as he does not remember who he was. This could be a very important message portrayed in the trailer as it seems to highlight real-life mental health issues.
The 1967 White Rabbit song
Jefferson Airplane's 1967 song White Rabbit starts playing. This song talks about drugs, and also about Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a large number of references of which have been used in The Matrix trilogy. For instance, Neo was instructed to 'Follow the white rabbit' in the first movie.
Anderson's Blue Pills
An important theme of The Matrix Resurrections is 'Memory'. Anderson has no memories of his past, as the machines may have erased his memories while resurrecting him. In the teaser trailers, his bottle of medicines reveals a very important detail. The name, Anderson, along with Ontolofloxin, was printed on Thomas's prescription medicine. This could be derived from the words, Ontology, which is a branch of Philosophy dealing with Reality, and Floxin, which is used to remove pathogens from the body. The blue pills prescribed to Neo are meant to 'eliminate his wish to know reality'.
Neo looking at the mirror
There are scenes in both the teaser and the complete trailer, of Neo looking at himself in the mirror, and becoming shocked, as he sees a much older version of himself. This could suggest two things — one, that this is how he appears outside the simulation, and two, Neo had hijacked someone else's body, like the Agents.
Neo meets Trinity
At a coffee shop, which could be named Simulatte, Neo meets Trinity, and although they don't recognise each other, the feeling of Deja Vu strikes them both.
Anderson looks up at the Sun
The scene in which Anderson looks up at the sky and sees the Sun, indicates that he may be coming closer to reality. Sati, a girl mentored by a titular character in the Matrix movies, The Oracle, was responsible for the birds and the sunrise. The Oracle could be trying to contact Neo and pass a message to him.
The elevator scene
Next, we see Neo in an elevator, with a lot of people glued to their devices, which is a criticism pointed towards the modern society that is busy with social media. They could represent the humans who chose to remain within the simulation.
The Oracle is back?
Neo enters a shop, and a copy of the book, Alice in Wonderland is shown. This is followed by a glimpse of Priyanka Chopra, who could either be playing an adult version of Sati, or could be a reincarnation of the Oracle.
A Matrix within a Matrix?
Neo is seen in a theatre, where The Matrix (1999) is being projected on a screen, indicating a Matrix within a Matrix.
Neo sees his older version in the mirror, which means the machines changed his self-residual image so that the Red Pills couldn't find him in the Matrix.
Time to Fly
Abdul Mateen's character, which is most likely Young Morpheus, offers a Red Pill and a Blue Pill to Neo, and says, "Time to Fly". Neo chooses the Red Pill, which indicates he will wake up.
The rabbit tattoo
We then get a glimpse of someone's shoulder with the tattoo of a rabbit, another Alice in Wonderland reference, and the character is played by Jessica Henwick, who asks Neo if he wants to know the truth. She has blue hair, which suggests she may not want Neo to know the reality, although she appears to help him. She leads Neo to a door with white light, similar to the one which Neo had earlier seen before entering the Matrix, and may lead him to the Architect.
Through The Looking Glass
Henwick's character leads Neo through a looking glass, another reference to Alice in Wonderland. The mirrors become liquid on being touched and may serve as portals in the movie.
Green codes on Trinity's face
Neo holds Trinity's hands, and the Matrix code is seen on her face, which means she could be the creation of a simulation.
Neo and Young Morpheus fight
These two characters fight in a dojo, with Young Morpheus telling Neo, that he had come back for the only person he cared about, probably referencing to Neo's love interest, Trinity. Then, Neo pushes Morpheus, sending shockwaves across the room, indicating he is much more powerful than before.
The real world
Two ships arrive at the human activation field, and the towers of human pods appear empty, probably because they freed the humans who didn't want to stay within the Matrix. A policeman is seen to be hijacked by an Agent.
Neo is seen in a building, and in the background, the words, Deu's Ex Machina can be observed. He is the one with whom Neo worked, in order to negotiate a peace treaty between the Machines and Humans.
Trinity is shown to be connected to the pods.
She fights some policemen, and shockwaves appear. Her simulation is distorted when she screams.
The return of Smith?
Jessica's character and Morpheus are running away from some Agents, and they fall off a building on to a ground made of code. Neo stops some bullets, just like the earlier Matrix movies. Neo and Trinity are seen jumping off a building, probably because they are being chased by Agents and other programmes within the Matrix.
After that, Neo is shown sitting in a room, with a character played by Jonathan Gruff. This character is speculated to be Agent Smith or The Architect. In the teaser, his mouth melted and closed, similar to what Neo experienced in the ‘The Matrix’. The trailer ends with Gruff's character telling Neo. "After all these years, to be going back to where it all started. Back to the Matrix."
Recurring themes
The trailer has a tint of blue appearing in many scenes, and Abdul Mateen is seen wearing clothes with shades of red, referencing blue and red pills, respectively.
The character of Merovinjian is speculated to return. The hovercraft Mnemosyne is also seen.
Also, Neo could be alive because he was absorbed into the source code after he sacrificed himself, and his consciousness was still embedded in the Matrix. Trinity could have been brought back in a similar manner.