The Matrix Resurrections Ending Explained

The Matrix Resurrections is now out in theaters, and like the original film that inspired it, this new chapter of The Matrix franchise mixes hardcore action with some heady concepts. The Matrix Resurrections not only invokes the original’s trippy play with nature of perception and “reality” it also has to contend with the entire legacy of the pop-culture phenomenon that The Matrix Trilogy became. As such, it is safe to say that The Matrix Resurrections is somewhat dense when it comes to explaining itself – and especially when it comes to the climactic battle and ending of the film. 

What Is The Matrix Resurrections About?

To understand the ending of The Matrix Resurrections you have to understand the larger framework of the story. Resurrections keeps the entire previous Matrix Trilogy intact as canon; this new story is set sixty years after the events of The Matrix Revolutions. Neo achieved peace between man and machine, but it doesn’t last. Neo’s campaign as The One forever changes things: some machines break away from their world and ally with humans, while Zion is similarly split when some humans choose to partner with machines, but others refuse. A new settlement, Io, is established and run by Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith), and a new generation of hackers make a startling discovery: Neo isn’t dead. 

After the war, the machines spawned a program called “The Analyst” who took extensive time and used extensive tech to repair Neo and Trinity’s dead bodies and re-spark their minds. The Analyst studied the pair and found that Neo and Trinity aren’t special individually but can always break free of the Matrix non-reality when bonded together by love. 

The Analyst trapped Neo and Trinity in his modern version of The Matrix – a reflection of modern times in which people are happy and willing to have their minds asleep in a fantasy world. By having Neo and Trinity near each other without ever connecting, The Analyst had achieved a more stable and effective Matrix than ever. Neo stuck in a loop of meta hell as the designer of “The Matrix Trilogy” game series; Trinity is reduced to a wife and house mom named “Tiffany” who works on motorcycles in her spare time.

The Matrix Resurrections Ending Explained

The series of events in Matrix Resurrections sees a digital version of Morpheus get unconsciously created by Thomas Anderson as a way to help spark his own re-awakening. The Io hackers indeed find Morpheus, who then awakens Neo. After getting the lay of the land (like once again facing Agent Smith and his deadly Exiles gang), Neo finds his true mission: to rescue Trinity. 

Matrix Resurrrections’ climax sees Neo and the Io hackers go into the Matrix to face The Analyst. The challenge is that if Neo can convince Trinity to leave the Matrix, The Analyst will release them. If Trinity won’t leave, Neo has to go back to sleep in his pod. Well, love once again conquers all as Trinity awakens and (literally and figuratively) reconnects with Neo. The combined power of “The Ones” allows them and the hackers to beat The Analyst and his crazy mob of “swarm mode” puppets. The fight ends when Neo and Trinity take a leap of faith off a skyscraper, and Trinity confirms she also has the powers of “The One” by flying them away. 

In the end, The Matrix Resurrections does a pretty on-the-nose job of letting fans know what its ending is all about, as Neo and Trinity recreate the ending of the original by coming back into The Matrix to let The Analyst know they are in control now. This fourth film is doing no less than bringing back these heroes for a new era, which will force people to think beyond the recycled factory line of reboots and remakes of old ideas. 

The Matrix Resurrections is now in theaters and is streaming on HBO Max