Twenty years after the Wachowskis introduced the world to The Matrix, Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus are back. Well, sort of. The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth installment in the franchise, is certainly about The Matrix. But it’s also about The Matrix, the seminal sci-fi/action/cyberpunk movie. Resurrections, you see,is a very meta sequel. But it’s also a very pointed and personal film, and a romantic and exciting one, as well.
This is the first Matrix movie that Lana Wachowski has made without her sister, Lilly. To tackle the screenplay, Lana enlisted the services of two long-time collaborators: journalist and writer Aleksandar Hemon and Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell. Both worked with Lana previously on the Netflix series Sense8, bringing the sensibility of their tight-knit screenwriting collective they affectionately refer to as “The Pit.”
To answer the question “What is The Matrix?” in 2021, Wachowski, Hemon, and Mitchell had to look at what The Matrix has meant over the last 20 years—and perhaps, what it will mean 20 years from now. The A.V. Club spoke to Hemon and Mitchell about writing The Matrix Resurrections, how they ended up in “The Pit,” and why they don’t discuss anything with Nazis or fascists.
