The Matrixhit theaters in 1999 and dazzled audienceswith a leather-clad and gravity-defyingKeanu Reeves, as he, along withCarrie-Anne MossandLaurence Fishburne, fought against artificial agents of a programmed reality with their stylized kung-fu and black leather outfits. Aside from looking cool, they were also working to free humanity from the grips of a machine-controlled Matrix.The Wachowski Sistersintroduced the now well-known red pill/blue pill metaphor for interpreting the world and asked viewers to consider the similarities of our own reality to that of a computer simulation.
The Matrixwas followed by two more feature films,The Matrix Reloaded(May 2003)andThe Matrix Revolutions(November 2003), and then after a 20-year break,Lana Wachowskireturned to the franchise to createThe Matrix Resurrections(December 2021). The franchise also includes an anthology of animated short films released in the middle of the trilogy, titledThe Animatrix(June 2003). With four of thenine shortswritten by the Wachowskis themselves,The Animatrixis consideredMatrixcanon. While the collection of animated short films are housed within the anthology, the individual shorts take place at various points along theMatrixtimeline. And, although a couple ofThe Animatrixstories take place before the events of the first Matrix film,we suggest watchingThe Matrixbefore diving intoThe Animatrixin order to fully understand and appreciate the short stories.
As for the feature films, the fourth installment ofThe Matrixfranchise brings back familiar faces with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, but it also stars newcomers likeJessica Henwick,Yahya Abdul-Mateen II,Neil Patrick Harris, andPriyanka Chopra.Resurrectionswas released in December 2021, adding one more chapter to the epic story and one that plays into the dynamics and lessons learned in the original trilogy. If you’re looking for a quick overview of The Matrix franchise, we’ve got you covered. Below, we’ve organized allThe Matrixfranchise movies and shorts by order of chronological events and by order of release date for easy perusing. See you in the desert of the real.
The Matrix Movies in Order of Release Date
And here is everyMatrixmovie in order of release date:
All of these films are available now to stream on Max.
The Matrix Movies in Chronological Order of Events
‘The Animatrix: The Second Renaissance, Part I and II’
Part I and Part II of “The Second Renaissance” tellthe origin story of the rise of the machines and the downfall of man. It tells how humans became enslaved by the machine-created Matrix and turned into batteries. The story takes place circa 2090, and it includes the creation of artificial intelligence and the events of the war of the machines.
‘The Animatrix: A Detective Story’
“A Detective Story” mixes anime and classic film noir while following Detective Ash in his pursuit within the Matrix of the ever-elusive internet hacker known as Trinity, sometime after the creation of the Matrix and beforeshe joins forces with Morpheus.
‘The Matrix’
The Matrixis the 1999 film thatintroduces audiences to Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus, as they fight machines of the real world and agents of the Matrix, somewhere around the (estimated) year 2199 according to the human rebels. However, seeing as the Matrix has already gone through six cycles, the real year the movie is set could be far more distant than that.
The Matrix
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth–the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
‘The Animatrix: The Kid’s Story’
“The Kid” featured in this gritty animated story is a character seen in the second installment of the film trilogy — a young boy who breaks out of the Matrix and saves himself by sheer willpower alone, self-actualizing as no one has before him — and his story takes place withinthe six-month gapof time between the events ofThe MatrixandThe Matrix Reloaded.
‘The Animatrix: Final Flight of the Osiris’
“Final Flight of the Osiris"takes place just before the events ofThe Matrix Reloaded,and it primarily focuses onthe stylized simulated fightbetween Jue and Thadeus. However, the mission that leads to their demise involves sending a message to the human rebels about the Sentinel army drilling toward Zion.
‘The Matrix Reloaded’
The Matrix Reloadedoccurs six months after the events ofThe Matrixandfollows the love story between Neo and Trinity, as Neo discovers the cyclical nature andcreation of the Matrix. It picks up right after the “Final Flight of the Osiris” short.
The Matrix Reloaded
Freedom fighters Neo, Trinity and Morpheus continue to lead the revolt against the Machine Army, unleashing their arsenal of extraordinary skills and weaponry against the systematic forces of repression and exploitation.
‘The Animatrix: Beyond’
“Beyond"occurs sometime during the events of the trilogy given the existence of the previous version of the Matrix. It follows a young girl named Yoko and some local kids who discover a “haunted house” that is filled with curious anomalies that we know to be glitches in the Matrix.
‘The Animatrix: World Record’
Similar to “The Kid’s Story,” “World Record” features a man named Dan who momentarily breaks out of the Matrix due to the strength of his physical willpower. Unlike Kid, Dan only self-actuallizes for a moment, at the pinnacle of his race, before he crashes back into the Matrix. The story is set in an unspecified time in The Matrix canon, though presumably in the previous version of the Matrix given the presence of the Agents.
‘The Animatrix: Program’
“Program"is a stunningly animated short that revolves around simulated training set in a Samurai-like training program. Given that it is a story about rebels testing their crew’s loyalty to the cause, it is likely that “Program” is set afterThe Matrixand beforeThe Matrix Revolutions.
‘The Matrix Revolutions’
The Matrix Revolutionspicks up immediately afterThe Matrix Reloadedends —concluding the trilogy of feature filmsand portraying Neo’s ultimate sacrifice and attempt to make peace with the machines.
‘The Animatrix: Matriculated’
Another animated short without clear placement in the Matrixtimeline, “Matriculated"follows a separate group of human rebels different from the ones we know from Zion. They exist near the surface of the planet and spend their time capturing machines and “awakening” them by teaching them human qualities like empathy, passion, and playfulness. It’s hard to place this since these humans could be very far removed from the Zion and Machine cycles.
‘The Matrix Resurrections’
The Matrix Resurrectionsis set 60 years afterthe events ofThe Matrix Revolutions. We see the humans have moved to a new city, named IO, run by Niobe (Jada Pinkett-Smith). Neo’s sacrifice and reinserting himself into the matrix has led to a period of peace but also has led tothe creation of a much stronger matrix that fewer people are willing to unplug from.
The Matrix Resurrections
To find out if his reality is a physical or mental construct, Mr. Anderson, aka Neo, will have to choose to follow the white rabbit once more. If he’s learned anything, it’s that choice, while an illusion, is still the only way out of – or into – the Matrix. Neo already knows what he has to do, but what he doesn’t yet know is that the Matrix is stronger, more secure and far more dangerous than ever before.
The Future of ‘The Matrix’
In April 2024, it was reported that Warner Bros would be moving forward witha fifth Matrix movie, written and directed by Academy Award nomineeDrew Goddard(The Martian). This new installment would mark the first live-action movie in the franchise not to be written or directed by either of the Wachowski Sisters. However, Lana will remain on board as an executive producer. We don’t yet know who will be starring in the film, but contrary to online chatter,Will Smithwill not be in it.
Kacie Cooper Stotler also contributed to this article.
