Computer programmer
Thomas A. Anderson (
Keanu Reeves) is secretly a
hacker known by the
alias "Neo." He is restless, and driven to learn the meaning of cryptic references to "the Matrix" appearing on his computer. An infamous female hacker named
Trinity (
Carrie-Anne Moss) confirms that a man named
Morpheus (
Laurence Fishburne) knows the answers he seeks; however, three sinister
Agents, led by
Agent Smith (
Hugo Weaving), arrest Neo and attempt to discourage him from having any contact with Morpheus. Undeterred, Neo attends a secret meeting with Morpheus, who offers him a choice of two pills: a blue one that will allow him to continue his ordinary life, and a
red pill that will distort his Matrix "signature" allowing him to be located and "un-plugged" so that he can escape and learn the truth about the Matrix. Neo swallows the red pill, and he abruptly finds himself in a liquid-filled pod, his body connected by tubes and cables to a vast mechanical tower covered with identical pods. The connections are severed, and he is rescued by Morpheus and taken aboard his ship, the
Nebuchadnezzar. Neo's atrophied physical body is restored, and Morpheus explains the situation.
Morpheus tells Neo that it is not 1999, but closer to 2199, and that humanity is fighting a war against
intelligent machines created in the early 21st century. The sky is covered by thick black clouds created by the humans in an attempt to cut off the machines' supply of
solar power. The machines responded by using human beings as their energy source in conjunction with
nuclear fusion, later growing countless people in pods and harvesting their bioelectrical energy and body heat. The world in which Neo grew up was actually the Matrix, a
simulated reality of the world set in 1999, developed by the machines in order to keep the human captives docile. Morpheus and his crew belong to a group of free humans who "unplug" others from the Matrix and recruit them to their resistance against the machines. They are able to use their understanding of the Matrix's nature to bend the simulation's
laws of physics, giving them
superhuman abilities within the virtual world. Morpheus believes that Neo is "the One," a man prophesied to end the war through his limitless control over the Matrix.
Neo is trained as a member of the rebellion. A socket in Neo's skull, formerly used by the machines to connect him to the Matrix, allows knowledge to be uploaded directly into his mind. In this way, he is able to quickly learn numerous martial arts styles, and impresses the crew with his speed when sparring in the rebels' virtual reality "construct" environment. Further training introduces Neo to the key dangers in the Matrix itself. He learns that fatal injuries suffered within the simulation will also kill one's physical body in the real world. He is warned that the Agents he previously met are powerful sentient computer programs with the ability to possess the virtual body of anyone still directly connected to the Matrix, whose purpose is to seek out and eliminate any threats to the simulation. Morpheus is confident that once Neo fully understands his own abilities as "the One", the Agents will be no match for him.
The group enters the Matrix and takes Neo to meet the
Oracle (
Gloria Foster), the woman who has predicted the eventual emergence of the One. From her comments, Neo infers that he is not the One. The Oracle adds that Morpheus believes in Neo so blindly that he will sacrifice his life to save him.
Returning to the hacked telephone line which serves as a safe "exit" from the Matrix, the group is surrounded by Agents and
SWAT teams. One of the members of the group,
Mouse (
Matt Doran), is killed in the initial ambush. Morpheus stays behind to delay the agents, allowing Neo and the others to escape. They learn that they were betrayed by their fellow crew-member
Cypher (
Joe Pantoliano), who preferred his old life in the Matrix over the real world, and who had made a deal with the machines to have himself reinserted into the Matrix in exchange for giving them Morpheus. Cypher is killed, but his betrayal leads to the deaths of all crew-members except Neo, Trinity,
Tank (
Marcus Chong), and Morpheus.
Morpheus is held in a government building in the Matrix. The Agents try to coerce him into revealing the access codes to the mainframe of
Zion, the humans' subterranean refuge in the real world. Neo and Trinity storm the building to rescue their leader. Neo becomes more confident in his ability to manipulate the Matrix, ultimately dodging bullets fired at him. Escaping to a
subway station, Morpheus and Trinity use a
pay phone to exit the Matrix, but before Neo can leave he is ambushed by Agent Smith. Neo stands his ground and eventually causes Smith to get hit by a train, but flees when the Agent possesses another body.
As Neo runs through the city toward another telephone exit, he is pursued by the Agents while "sentinel" machines converge on the
Nebuchadnezzar in the real world. Neo reaches an exit, but Agent Smith is already there and shoots him repeatedly, killing him. In the real world, Trinity whispers to Neo what the Oracle had told her: that she would fall in love with "the One." She refuses to accept his death and kisses him. Neo's heart beats again, and within the Matrix, he revives; the Agents shoot at him, but he raises his palm and the bullets stop in mid-air. Neo is now able to perceive the streaming lines of green computer code that constitute the Matrix. Agent Smith makes a final attempt to kill him, but his punches are effortlessly blocked, and Neo destroys him. The other two Agents flee, and Neo returns to the real world in time for the ship's
EMP weapon to destroy the sentinels that had already breached the craft's hull.
A short epilogue shows Neo back in the Matrix, making a telephone call promising that he will demonstrate to the people imprisoned in the Matrix that "anything is possible." He hangs up the phone and then flies into the sky.
- Keanu Reeves as Thomas A. Anderson/Neo: A computer programmer in Metacortex corporation who moonlights as a hacker. Recruited by Morpheus to fight the machines. Will Smith turned down the role of Neo to make Wild Wild West, because of skepticism over the film's ambitious bullet time special effects.[2] He later stated he was "not mature enough as an actor" at that time,[2] and that if given the role, he "would have messed it up".[3][4] Nicolas Cage also turned down the role because of "family obligations".[5]
- Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus: A human freed from the Matrix, captain of the Nebuchadnezzar. He finds Neo and helps him learn the truth. Sean Connery declined the role of Morpheus.[6]
- Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity: Freed by Morpheus, crewmember of the Nebuchadnezzar and Neo's romantic interest.
- Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith: A sentient "Agent" program of the Matrix whose purpose is to destroy Zion and stop humans from getting out of the Matrix. Unlike other agents, he has ambitions to free himself from his duties.
- Joe Pantoliano as Cypher: Another human freed by Morpheus, who betrays Morpheus to the Agents to ensure his return to the Matrix where he can be someone famous and live a life of luxury.
- Julian Arahanga as Apoc: A freed human and crew member on the Nebuchadnezzar.
- Anthony Ray Parker as Dozer: A "natural" human born outside of the Matrix, and pilot of the Nebuchadnezzar.
- Marcus Chong as Tank: the "operator" of the Nebuchadnezzar, he is Dozer's brother, and like him was born outside of the Matrix.
- Matt Doran as Mouse: A freed human and programmer on the Nebuchadnezzar.
- Gloria Foster as the Oracle: Exiled sentient computer program who still resides in the Matrix, helping the freed humans with her foresight and wisdom.
- Belinda McClory as Switch: A human freed by Morpheus and crew member of the Nebuchadnezzar.
- Paul Goddard as Agent Brown: One of two sentient "Agent" programs in the Matrix who work with Agent Smith to destroy Zion and stop humans escaping the system.
- Robert Taylor as Agent Jones: Second sentient "Agent" program working with Agent Smith.
- Ada Nicodemou as DuJour (The White Rabbit Girl), a reference to the White Rabbit in Alice's Adventures
